![]() ![]() A total of 19 population centers, where there are five or more calling frogs, have been found on Maui. The Maui Invasive Species Committee has been systematically tracking and controlling the coqui presence on Maui since 2005. “They make the chickens look like nothing.”Ĭoquis have been found on Maui, Oahu and Kauai as populations on the Big Island grew. “I can see if one get into your property, you never going to get any sleep,” Lawrence said. Hopes of eradicating the species from the Big Island are lost, but experts are working diligently to ensure the frog does not spread to other islands. An infestation could contain as many as 20,000 frogs per acre, experts said. The frog has already established itself on over 60,000 acres on the Big Island, keeping residents and visitors awake with high-pitched mating calls, often from dusk till dawn. Coquis have voracious appetites that can threaten Hawaii’s unique insects and spiders, and the endemic birds and other native fauna that rely on the insects for food. A female coqui can lay a cluster of 34 to 75 eggs once every two and a half weeks, and the frogs have no known predators in the islands. Populations have exploded in the last 15 years from presumably a single infestation to over 200 on the Big Island alone. Native to Puerto Rico, the frog was accidentally introduced to Hawaii hidden in plants around 1988. “I don’t usually like to get involved with this kine stuff, but if you don’t do something, one can turn into one thousand,” he said by phone Monday. ![]() He subsequently reported the sighting to the Maui Invasive Species Committee. He quickly spotted the brown, dime-sized frog, knocked it out of the bushes and squashed it with his shoe. Lawrence, a retired police officer, investigated further and followed the chirping sound to a cluster of hedges near the neighboring gas station. Other shoppers heard it too – one woman insisted someone’s car alarm had been triggered.īut Lawrence recognized the call of a coqui frog, an invasive species that could decimate native ecosystems if it gains a foothold on Maui. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |