I never knew frogs could be foes, except for being loud after a rain at midnight. ha

Looks like a Cuban tree frog to me. I hope Marcia chimes in on this. I think you got some nice fish food there. Definitely need to get rid of this guy if that's what he is.

Beth, it looks like a Cuban to me with those big toe pads. But you know the best way to tell for sure when they are in this particular color phase (instead of the bloated, corpse white phase), is to catch him and see if the skin on his head moves when you rub it, or if it is fused to the bone. If it is fused to the skull and doesn't slide across it under your finger...fish food, indeed. Or plant fertilizer. I'm betting it's a Cuban.

And gdane123, all our native frogs are good guys, but Cuban treefrogs are invasive exotics that have nearly wiped out our green treefrogs. They have put a large dent in our native anole population, too, and will eat just about anything, including baby birds. They (and the horrible giant cane toads) should be fought diligently anywhere where there is still a chance of eradicating them. South Florida may be hopeless, but central Florida is not. Yet.

Marcia

CTF -for sure . Large , bulging eyes protruding prominently from their sockets and the round , circular largish toe-pads are a positive ID .
Cannot go by color or shape as these frogs can look different at times - but their eyes and toe pads remain the same .

Being the begnining of S. Fl. I had tons of the CTFs here, but we went on and still are on a mission to destroy. It made a big difference as I now have plenty of the native green lizzards all over my garden. Maybe I haven't changed the city or the street, but I have made a difference in my garden. Now if only I could do the same with lubbers. :o)

Poor little Cubans! Even their frogs aren't welcome here! Can't we just put them back on the boat too? ha

Well, I don't know about that...I for one have welcomed many Cubans here. People are one thing. Invasive critters are another. I would probably enjoy Cuban treefrogs back where they belong, and I really DO wish we could put them on a boat and ship them all home. But barring that, I whack them with extreme prejudice. Can't say I feel the same way about my pig-roasting, flan-making, fun-loving, tender-hearted Cuban friends, though. They can stay and continue to enrich us all. The steenkin' frogs have got to GO! Along with the Cane toads, the pythons in the everglades, water hyacinths, melaleuca trees, Australian pines, monitor lizards, iguanas, and all the other invasives that need to be gone, but are firmly entrenched in some areas, much to our detriment.

Marcia

It would seem to be a Cuban tree frog based on the shape of its head, bulging eyes, pads, and the way it tucks its legs in. But I have never actually seen one this color (with dark splotches on its back). I have a lot of them around my house, but they are all a light gray, tan, bright green, or almost white color.

The most common color in my yard are the pasty, corpse-white ones, too, but the smaller ones are often splotched with green and brown, just like this one. When they are really tiny, it is pretty hard to tell them from some of the "good guys," so I try to catch them and do the fused skin on the top of the head test, as described above. Cubans are the only ones who have that. If it slides around over their heads, I let them go. If not, whackity-whack, don't talk back!

Marcia

ewww...darn. pretty much figured that was the answer. guess we have to do the deed. :( ...hear this one's 'ratchet croak' and found it...there's another somewhere in the yard...heard it answer. can't find the second one, tho. YET.
just last year we had pretty spade foot froggies...i'd sure like to see more of those and the little green lizards are very, very rare now. hope that will change ...like you did, kat. Now, what about all these brown 'dragon looking' lizards??

I've been exterminating CTFs in my yard for the past two years. This is the first year I've seen a green lizard in my yard, and I'm happy to report there are two of them. I'll serenade them if that's what it takes to get them in the mood to mate. I would love to see an increase in the native population, even if it's just in my own yard.

Sadly, though, I have yet to find any native green tree frogs in my yard. Yet, I will press on. Press my shoe on the back of that CTF while I reach for the shovel, that is. :)

My green anoles are making a comeback, too. I think the reason is two-fold. I've been eliminating Cuban treefrogs, AND the green anoles are adjusting to living with the brown Cuban anoles (sorry...another "Cuban" import, though who knows if the name is even accurate). I have heard that the green anoles are learning to keep to the higher ground and leave the lower areas more for the brown ones. (Beth, they are exotics, sadly, and for awhile were really wiping out the green anoles.)

I definitely noticed more green anoles when I went on the warpath 5 years ago against the Cuban treefrogs, who eat them (and anything else they can catch.) But sadly, like you, Nativemel...no green treefrogs. My son has them in his yard in abundance in Gainesville, where the CTF's don't seem to be making as much headway. I'm thinking about relocating a few tadpoles from his yard to my pond and seeing if I can reintroduce them to my yard that way. Now that there are fewer CTF's here, seems like it might work.

Marcia

Well...I couldn't do the skull test...you KNOW that, Marcia! :P But....I certainly have no doubt, after reading what you folks have all written. My brave knight did the deed: whackity-whack, don't talk back. Now...if ONLY we can get more of these suckers. I'm hoping to see my lil spade foot soon and we have had peepers already...probably would get more if it'd only rain! RAIN? Maybe we need to be dancing........... Thanks for all the input. Bye bye mr bulging eye.......