Coqui frogs, in Hawaii now for over a decade, have almost become a household name on the Big Island, Maui, Kauai and now are spreading to parts of Oahu.
Depending on who you talk to, the coqui is also associated with The Amphibian Ark Project, Puerto Rico and the Taino people. For those raised on the child television show Sesame Street, the quarter-sized frog may bring to mind the character Kermit.
In some places, the coqui is considered an endangered species, but in Hawaii, they are deemed an invasive species.
These frogs are noisy and one male frog’s mating call can reach up to 90 decimals. They have the ability to go into a hibernation like state allowing them to survive without food or water for several weeks, and they can survive longer if the conditions are right. They climb walls like geckos (faster too), and can consume up to 4-5 insects a day and at an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 frogs/acre that’s taking out alot of food for our native species, some of which are on the endangered list.
Because of these survival abilities, they are spreading through the islands, not only in plants, but in boxes, cars and trucks, pallets of lumber or anything else they can hide in.
I was told a story of a surprised traveler, who upon opening her suitcase in the mainland, had a coqui hop out. California now requires a permit for importation, transportation, or possession of coquis and has classified the frog as a restricted pest. It has been reported in the San Juan Star that Disneyland has an established population at the Neverland Hotel.
USDA Wildlife has run a test and published a recent paper confirming that baking soda, a common household product that is FDA (Food and Drug Administration) GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), will exterminate 100 percent of the frogs.
Citric acid, which is also an FDA/GRAS chemical, is currently the only EPA approved product to exterminate coquis, but once baking soda is approved, it will add a much needed safe and effective treatment ( ex. these 2 compounds are used in candies and over the counter medicines to produce the “fizz”).
You can go to my blogspot to learn more and see links with information quoted in this article:
http://www.coquifrognews.blogspot.com
Also see the Department of Agriculture web page on coquis:
http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/pq/coqui
(Source: Hawaii Reporter)
4 responses so far ↓
1 roseann // Sep 19, 2009 at 3:31 am
There is NO scienctific evidence to indicate that the tree frogs are direct threat to other species except to some conceited humans that theyhave a ‘noise issues’.In fact the frogs help control pesky insects which devours healthy plants.For most people the coqui tree frogs soothe the savage beast with their musical nightly sounds.In Island like Bermuda, the tourists buy recorded sound of the frogs as souvenir to take back to city dwelling.Are they telling us something of these melodious creatures?
2 Linda Hansen // Jan 10, 2010 at 7:10 pm
A decimal is not a measure of sound.
3 Mike // Feb 23, 2010 at 8:29 pm
I wonder how the baking soda kills the frogs ? Is it similar to a seagull eating an alka-seltzer ?
(when the “fizz” produced by the alka-seltzer is swallowed by gulls, it causes them to explode- pretty nasty way to go i’d say)
4 GR // Mar 5, 2010 at 3:56 pm
If you don’t like the sound of Coqui frogs, just say so! Don’t try to justify your crusade with misrepresentations about tree frogs being a menace to plants or birds (not true; otherwise , please show me some real empirical evidence).
Amphibians are in decline worldwide and some people want to rush around and kill them cruelly with acid and baking soda ‘cos they don’t like some noise…!? lol, wtf.
Well, I’m very sorry but the world wasn’t designed exactly perfectly for you; seems like it wasn’t designed perfectly for anyone.
Yes, they’re noisy & some people don’t like that. Others think they’re melodic. Just don’t lie about why you want to get rid of them! I like them here on maui when I hear them, but it’s no big deal either way.
btw, I’m not some animal-hugger; I spend far too much of my time cooking up various animals to eat. I just don’t like misrepresentation and lies to cover up someone’s real agenda. We get enough buulchit from politicians like that. I just came across this site randomly after looking for recipes and clicking links. Just had to respond.
I wish people would use real facts and not just go by rumour and hearsay and general bollox.
Leave a Comment