Utah wants residents to eat invasive bullfrogs

The Utah Department of Natural Resources is asking residents to eat bullfrogs.

Reality check: No, really.

What's happening: The DNR is promoting bullfrog-catching to help contain the amphibians, which have run … a-muck (?) in Utah's ponds and marshes.

Why it matters: Bullfrogs are invasive in Utah, and are out-competing other species like the endangered boreal toad.

• Bullfrogs eat three species of native frogs that are threatened or struggling to repopulate in Utah, state wildlife spokesperson Faith Heaton Jolley told Axios.

Yes, but: You'll want to wait until the snow thaws to catch these croakers.

• They're easiest to find during breeding season — late spring into early summer — when you can hear the males croaking in choruses, according to a 2019 blog post by Ja Eggett, a hunting range supervisor for the DNR.

How it works: Eggett recommends catching them with a bobber, which bullfrogs try to eat.

• Attach hooks directly to the top and bottom of the bobber so the critters don't escape.

Of note: You might catch fish, too, so get a fishing license. But there is no season or harvest limit for bullfrogs.

• Steer clear of waterfowl management areas, where bullfrog catching is illegal.
• It's also illegal to transport live bullfrogs, so kill 'em dead at the shore.

Be smart: Bullfrogs may carry a disease that can infect other amphibians, Eggett notes, so take them away from waterways to clean them — i.e. skin them from the waist down, cut off the legs and wash them as needed.

• Eggett has provided a detailed recipe for breaded frog legs, which he says taste like chicken, but slightly chewier.

Bon appétit!