Family: Ranidae, True Frogs view all from this family

Description 2 1/4-4 1/2" (5.7-11.4 cm). Stout-bodied frog. Cream to brown or black, with irregular dark spots on back and sides. Adjacent spots frequently are fused into horizontal blotches. Dorsolateral folds sometimes highlighted with yellow. Web extends about half length of longest toe on hind foot. Skin smooth to warty.

Subspecies Carolina (R. c. capito), dark, chest with dark marbling; coastal plain from North Carolina to c. Georgia.
Florida (R. c. aesopus), white to cream, chin spotted, belly white; c. Georgia through most of the Florida peninsula to the Florida panhandle.
Dusky (R. c. sevosa), dark, chest spotted, back rough; from the Florida panhandle to e. Louisiana.

Voice   A deep, resonating guttural snore. Heavy rains in late winter sometimes stimulate choruses. This species is sometimes considered the same species as the more westerly Crawfish Frog (R. areolata).

Breeding Year-round in southern areas; in spring and early summer in northern areas. Egg masses are laid in shallow water, sometimes attached to vegetation.

Habitat Moist meadows, prairie woodlands, and pine scrub.

Range Coastal plain from North Carolina to Florida and along the Gulf coast to extreme e. Louisiana.

Discussion Nocturnal. These frogs will travel great distances to reach breeding ponds. Otherwise they seldom range far from the entrance of their daytime retreat - a stump hole, an abandoned burrow of a crawfish or small rodent, or the active burrow of a Gopher Tortoise. They will swallow almost any prey they can catch, including other frogs and toads.