Submitted by Austin Gray on the 2020 winter session program in Dominica sponsored by the Department of Geography…
Last night, we went hunting for the invasive Cuban tree frog.
Throughout our time on the island of Dominica, we’ve heard from a myriad of experts in the forestry and wildlife departments. They’ve defined invasive species and how they spread, their effects on the environment, humans, and our economy, and examples of invasive species that are present here.
We drove about an hour north to the town of Portsmouth to join a team of “frog hunters.” These people devote their time to ensuring that the native tree frog population is not put at risk by the invasive Cuban tree frogs, as they will eat just about anything that they encounter. It was crucial that we wore gloves while doing this, as the frogs can secrete a toxic mucus from their skin. While it is unknown just how much of an impact we are having on reducing the invasive species’ presence, participating in this project has allowed us to see first-hand the efforts to conserve the endemic species on this island for future generations to enjoy.
