WOW talk about an Aussi Wildlife Crusader, this bloke Lance Jurd is an absolute gem. He is the Green & Golden Bell Frog guru! Lance has successfully bred an endangered species successfully in large numbers, but what no one else has done was to breed 10 month old frogs and to breed the adults in the middle of winter, as Lance told me they were both very important achievements.  

Now how would I meet a rugged Naturalist who lives out past Blacktown in Sydney’s western suburbs who breeds the endangered Green & Golden Bell Frog you may ask? Actually I read of Lance’s passion through the Foundation of National Parks & Wildlife newsletter. Being attracted myself to this magnificent colorful frog he became a bright part of my Fantasea Collection. http://www.wildlifecrusader.com/endangered%20species-fantasea.htm

I later took a train from Sydney city to the outback to meet Lance and his fantasy show of bell frogs all happily living throughout his property, and the chorus is delightful! So let me amaze you with an interesting story about a very special man who loves and saves our fabulous frogs.

Lance’s first encounter with Green and Golden bell frogs was in 1966 in Riverstone when he was ten. As an adventurous person he had an interest in all types of Australian native animals including bandicoots, possums, gliders, tortoises, lizards, snakes and birds. One day he entered the entrance of the Riverstone Meat works where the runoff water goes under the road and railway line into an opening which had a lot of water and bulrushes growing where lots of frogs were sunning themselves. He recognized these as bell frogs as he had seen them in books at the Riverstone Primary School Library. Lance learnt they were a gentle frog loving to sun bake for hours at a time, their behavior being unique. He would catch tadpoles to take home, feeding them fish food flakes and watch them slowly turn into frogs. It was a large population at Riverstone and if you shook the bulrushes they jumped everywhere. Through watching them he learnt their needs but at this stage they were not endangered. They remained abundant up to the 80’s until track work was done for the upgrade for the electrification to Richmond. This disturbed their habitat altering the water coarse with the water becoming shallow so the frogs became sparse. 

In 1973 Lance worked at Bush’s meats and an area he visited was Homebush Meat works, so he had the idea of releasing some frogs there as were similar ponds to Riverstone. Lance bred the bell frogs at home with the excess taken to Homebush where he released 10 month old frogs. These frogs began to spawn within weeks and became the beginning of a new population. He would later return to Homebush where the frogs were doing well. As a consequence of the Sydney Olympic Games the frogs were discovered in the brick pit and they altered the Olympic Games which became the green Olympics.

In 1979 the frogs were still at Riverstone and he found another colony at Maralaya in an abandoned cattle property. It consisted of very long grasses including paspalin, casuarinas and a pond totally surrounded by bulrushes. As you approached the pond you could hear the bell frogs jumping into the water and when you pushed back the bulrushes you could see them sitting on the bulrushes sun baking. In the mid 90’s Lance visited Riverstone near the meat works but no frogs were found even though the bulrushes were still there. He started breeding the ones which he had at home as he could see that the bell frog was in trouble. Since then the bulrushes have gone as trees have grown in the area causing shade and he has not found any bell frogs in the Riverstone area since. 

In the year 2000 he returned to the brick pit at the Sydney Olympic Park at night and saw bell frogs. He was amazed to see them just sitting around on the rocks and moving from pond to pond. Most of these areas are now flooded but new ponds have been constructed both inside the brick pit but up higher and outside as well. It was a good experience to see the frogs and he visited during the day and night. Also that year he went to the old sand dredging ponds at Wanda near Cronulla to see the frogs. Quite large ponds which were lined with cumbungi and with a few frogs sun baking. Sometimes he would go at night and take an inflatable boat and paddle across the water to where the frogs were calling as there was no access due to the thick vegetation. Once during the day he was walking into the ponds and saw a large black snake on the path with its head in the bushes. He had a closer look but it turned around and chased him as he ran up the hill with the inflatable boat under his arm. The same day he was in the boat looking for tadpoles with no luck, and as he went to land went head first into the water as the boat shot out into the middle of the pond so he had to go retrieve it! At that stage he thought it was time to go home. 

Lance began to build some extra cages outside at home to house the bell frogs and some ponds so that he had areas to put all the tadpoles. He also started using inflatable ponds and let the grass grow to increase the number of grasshoppers. He had thousands of tadpoles that were emerging as frogs in 2006 and the whole yard was alive with frogs. This is when he had a visit from Ann Goeth from the DECC to see the frogs and his set up which led to a contract and the beginning of the Riverstone Green and Golden Bell Frog Recovery Program. 

Since then, there have been many important people visiting Lance fascinated with his frogs and their beauty. Local residents visit and Lance was invited to give talks at schools and the Hawkesbury Herp Society. Lance’s frogs have been featured in Burkes Backyard Magazine, The Lazy Gardener by Don Burke, Australian Geographic, Paws & Claws magazine, The Rouse Hill Times, The Hawkesbury Gazette and Hawkesbury Herp magazine. Lance has received sponsor money from the DECC, Australian Geographic, Dick Smith, Taronga Zoo and the Hawkesbury Herp Society. Presently Lance is seeking someone to sponsor the excellent book he has written “The Green and Golden Bell Frog Story”. 

So if you need to brighten up your life, and happen to have a frog fetish you will find an array of items promoting the Green & Golden Bell Frog and even a song written about him “Daybreak at the Lilypad” on my website. http://www.wildlifecrusader.com/cd_fantasea.htm 

Don't be shy as these stunning colorful frogs are not! Entertainers & entrepreneurs all leap for him and flamboyant types of course, but you too can join the army with a true tale to share. My favorite is a Bell Frog viscose kimono  
http://www.wildlifecrusader.com/wildlife%20designs_robes.htm

Ro London - Wildlife Crusader - www.wildlifecrusader.com Animal lover and wildlife designer Ro London, with her Sacred Fish Collections and Wildlife Crusader designer labels attract attention with vibrant patterns of unique wildlife designs printed on fine silks & natural fibres.  Ro London creates spectacular fashions from her own fabrics using bold bright colors and inspirational artwork to draw attention to the world's endangered species. Each wildlife design emphasizes how we risk losing our precious animals living in their natural surroundings; every species chosen for a textile design has its own theme song! Ro's enchanting and spiritual CDs are rich with exotic melodies that demonstrates her deep concern for the preservation of our rare and threatened animals. Ro, is a dedicated artist who spends her whole working life exploring exotic habitats around the world in pursuit of the intricate details that make up her extraordinary designs. Ro lives in Tallai Hills Estate, Queensland Australia. You can reach Ro This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it