Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1905 — HORNED FROGS [ARTICLE]

HORNED FROGS

Turned Loose in Texas jo Drive Away the Prairie Dogs. Henry Perthell ,a stock farmer, has discovered that a few horned frogs when placed in a village of prairie doge, will quickly depopulate every hole. His crops and grass had suffered from the ravages of prairie dogs this season, and all the poisonous methods he tried failed to kill the little animals. * Me observed that a village of prairie dogs would sometimes be suddenly deserted without apparent cause. This led him to make an investigation. In all the deserted villages he found horned frogs. The thought occurred to him that perhaps they were an enemy of the prairie dog. He captured several of the ,'rogs and took them to lively prairie dog village on another part of his ranch. He turned tne frogs loose near the holes. When he visited this village the next day he found every prairie dog house deserted. The little animals had gone to another part of the ranch, where they were busy at work esablishlng another town. Perthell scattered the horned frogs about in all of the prairie dog villages on his ranch and farm, and the prairie dogs have entirely disappeared from his land, it is supposed) that they have taken up their homes on neighboring lands. It is not thought that the horned frogs attack the prairie dogs, xhey burrow in the holes and are in some way offensive ‘o the rodents. Horned frogs have another good point. They are known To be voracious eaters of the big red ants which are found in the Southwest. These ants have a painful sting, and In some localities they are a serious pest. Their big ground nests ruin lawns and pastures, and it is a difficult matter to get rid of them. One horned frog turned loose in a red ant bed will clear it up in a day.—Ballinger (Texas) Cor. New York Sun. *