Incredibly rare blue bullfrog spotted in Channahon
Will County is home to a number of blue colored animals, such as blue jays and blue-spotted salamanders, but after a weekend wildlife sighting, we can now add another one — and a very rare one — to the list in the form of a blue American bullfrog.
The frog was spotted Saturday at McKinley Woods in Channahon by Jen Carusi and she shared it to the District's Will County Wildife Facebook group.
"It was really cool to see," Carusi said. "When I first saw the frog, I thought maybe it was the lighting and it was sitting in brown algae, so I thought it was maybe from the colors. I also thought maybe it was a juvenile. I do not know much about frogs."
She reached out to some friends and they let her know she had captured a photo of something rare.
But how rare? Very.
When one was found in Ohio in 2020, wildlife experts there called it a 1-in-a-million find. In 2012, one was found in DuPage County and then another one there in 2019.
This alternate coloration is caused by a genetic mutation in which the amphibian lacks xanthophores and carotenoids that cause yellow pigmentation. Because yellow and blue make green, the lack of yellow means that a frog that would normally be green is now blue.
While the bright blue coloring is rare — moreso than mutations such as albinism or leucism, according to research published in the Belgian Journal of Zoology — actually seeing one of these frogs in the wild is quite a treat. That's because without its natural coloring to serve as camouflage, it's essentially a sitting duck for predators.
For Carusi, seeing unique creatures like this blue American bullfrog makes all the time out in nature even more rewarding. She said she generally goes out two to four times a week with her camera.
"I love to find different things when I go out," she said. "When you slow down and really take the time to look for things in nature, you can discover some very cool things."