News 4 Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Register
1
CALIFORNIA’S STATE AMPHIBIAN
Come January, we’ll have yet another symbol of
our great state: an official amphibian.
GOLDEN STATE FROG
SKIN FOLD
Extends from eye to the hip.
BACK
Covered with small black flecks
and larger, irregular dark
splotches on a brown, grey,
olive or reddish background.
ABDOMEN
AND HIND
LEGS
Red or reddish —
hence, the name.
HEAD
Dark mask
with a
lighter
border
above the
upper jaw.
SIZE
One-and-a-half to five-inches long — the
largest native frog in the western United
State. Females are slightly larger than males.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE CELEBRATED
JUMPING FROG
OUR OTHER
STATE SYMBOLS
ADOPTED
The California red-legged frog was named
the official state amphibian earlier this month.
The new law takes effect in January.
But you know this particular hopper — it’s the
same type featured in “The Celebrated Jumping
Frog of Calaveras County,” written by Mark
Twain and first published in the Nov. 18, 1865,
edition of the Saturday Press. He later used it as
the centerpiece of a collection of short stories
published in 1867 (at right).
In the story, Jim Smiley finds his jumping frog
sabotaged by a stranger who accepts a bet for
a frog jumping contest. However, real life might
actually be stranger than fiction: The California
red-legged frog was important to the history of
the state because miners in the Gold Rush era
would catch, cook and eat them.
A THREATENED SPECIES
Since those days roasting over
49ers’ campfires, the red-legged
frog has fallen on hard times.
It has retreated from 70 percent
of its traditional range. The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
estimates it can be found now in
only 256 streams or drainage
areas around the state.
The frogs are most
plentiful today in
San Mateo...
...and Monterey
counties.
The frogs live in sheltered backwaters of ponds, marshes, springs,
streams and reservoirs — preferably
deep-water pools with dense strands of
overhanging willows and a fringe of
cattails. They’ve been known to move up to
two miles in northern Santa Cruz County
during rainy seasons.
They’re no longer
found at all in
Calaveras County.
The frog’s enemies: Land development,
grazing by cattle, and bullfrogs — the latter
are not native to California.
The red-legged frog is considered
“a species of special concern.”
Translation: it’s not exactly thriving.
But don’t expect the entire population to croak just yet.
The frogs have virtually
disappeared from the Los Angeles
area to the Mexican border.
STAT
STATE
ATE
STATE
STAT
ATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
SEAL
FLOWER California poppy
FLAG
BIRD California quail
TREE California redwood
THEATER Pasadena Playhouse
FISH Golden trout
1849
1903
1911
1931
1937
1937
1947
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
COLORS Blue and gold
ANIMAL California grizzly bear
MOTTO “Eureka,” meaning “I have found it.”
ROCK Serpentine
MINERAL Gold
NICKNAME “The Golden State”
INSECT California dogface butterfly
1951
1953
1963
1965
1965
1968
1972
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
REPTILE Desert tortoise
FOSSIL The saber-toothed cat
MARINE MAMMAL California gray whale
HISTORICAL SOCIETY California State Historical Society
GEMSTONE Benitoite
1972
1973
1975
1979
1985
STATE SONG “I Love You, California” by F.B. Silverwood
STATE DANCE West Coast swing
STATE FOLK DANCE Square dance
1988
1988
1988
STATE PREHISTORIC ARTIFACT A chipped stone bear
STATE MARINE FISH Garibaldi
STATE SOIL San Joaquin soil
1991
1995
1997
STATE FIFE AND DRUM BAND
California Consolidated Drum Band
STATE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Sacramento
1998
STATE TARTAN California Tartan
2001
GOLD RUSH GHOST TOWN Bodie, in Mono County
TALL SHIP The Californian, San Diego
GRASS Purple needlegrass
MILTARY MUSEUM State Military Museum, Sacramento
QUARTER John Muir/Yosemite Valley design
SILVER RUSH GHOST TOWN
Calico, in San Bernardino County
STATE MARINE REPTILE Pacific leatherback sea turtle
2002
2003
2004
2004
2005
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
STATE
Sources: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey,
rvey, Golden State
ciated Pr
National Parks Conservancy, state of California, The Associated
Press
1997
2005
2012
COMPILED BY CHARLES APPLE,
FOCUS PAGE EDITOR
1-888-708-1275