Introduction

On 1 April, 2010, Jen Heemeyer was radiotracking Crawfish Frogs exiting wetlands following their spring breeding efforts. Crawfish Frogs acquired their common name from their tendency to inhabit crayfish-dug burrows. Crawfish Frogs are “true frogs,” members of the Ranidae family. This group has a widespread, global distribution, which includes temperate, tropical, and some polar regions. Crawfish Frogs acquired their common name from their tendency to inhabit crayfish-dug burrows. Before Heemeyer’s work, the scientific literature had provided a handful of often-contradictory observations and lightly informed speculation about the nature of Crawfish Frog burrows and how they use them. Despite following Gopher Frogs on the road to near-extinction, or at least toward costly recovery efforts, Crawfish Frogs offer optimism. They have a wider distribution than either Gopher Frog species and have pockets of abundance, especially in eastern Kansas and Oklahoma.