Lumpy Green Frog

I’ve been seeing the occasional Green Frog for several weeks and now it appears that the whole population is awake and moving about.  Warm spring rains seem to stimulate the Green Frogs to take off across country in search of a new body of water to call home.  Once summer sets in, the frogs tend to stay put.  They may travel at night in search of prey, but they return to their resting place beside the water by the next morning. 

Sometimes a frog has such a distinctive look that it can always be identified.  A closer look showed this individual to have a slight deformity that should make it easily identifiable.  From this angle I couldn’t tell exactly what was going on with the frog’s back.

I later noticed the frog sitting on the bridge over the water garden.  Even from a distance it was easy to see that this was the same frog I had seen in the water.  A lump is prominently displayed on the frog’s back.

Without cutting into the frog, it’s hard to say what might have caused the lump.  It could be the result of an injury or an infection or a tumor or a growth deformity or something else.  It’s most definitely one of those five options.

Now, this frog might be playing host to some strange Alien.  That lump looks mysteriously frog shaped to me.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see a baby frog rip through the skin.  I’ll have to keep a close eye on this guy.