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Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:42 pm
by Jürgen Gebhart
Need help please!
Found this Little Rana today, as you Guys know I have not many Ideas about Snakefood.
First thought was Rana dalmatina, but could it be Rana latastei? It make some big jumps so I think it is not a temporaria.

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Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:55 pm
by Michal Szkudlarek
Spotted underside suggests R. latastei

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:11 pm
by Ilian Velikov
Yes, latastei - spotted throat and dark upper lip. In dalmatina the white color goes all the way to the tip of the snout and if there's any spots on the throat at all (and usually there isn't) they'd be much fainter.

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:59 pm
by Jeroen Speybroeck
That's right. Maybe they are not rare in Istria, but I remember being sucked dry by mosquitoes and only finding dalmatina when I attempted to find my first in 2003, so I selfishly say- well done!

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 3:32 pm
by Berislav Horvatic
Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:That's right. Maybe they are not rare in Istria, but I remember being sucked dry by mosquitoes and
only finding dalmatina when I attempted to find my first in 2003, so I selfishly say- well done!

"In Croatia it is distributed in the region of Central and Northern Istria, the size of which is,
according to present knowledge, 320 km2."
(The Red Book of Amphibians and Reptiles of Croatia, Zagreb, 2015 – THE NEW ONE, still not
"next to perfect", but much, much better than the previous/original edition...)
http://www.hhdhyla.hr/en/12-novosti/77- ... -published

http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=cla ... zik=169295
This paper presents the current knowledge about the biology and ecology of Italian Agile frog
(Rana latastei, Boulenger 1879) through review of scientific literature.
(Unfortunately for most of the people here, written in Croatian, but the photos and maps are
self-explanatory (and subtitled in English as well), as is the literature list.)

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 3:56 pm
by Berislav Horvatic
Jürgen Gebhart wrote:... as you Guys know I have not many Ideas about Snakefood.

I like that immensely... I suppose "snakefood" is the translation of the German "Schlangenfutter"...
Some years ago Hannes Hill referred to a passing by small dog as "Schlangenfutter", but he meant
pythons & alike in the ZOOs... as "users". I asked at the Zagreb ZOO - and no, they don't feed the
big snakes there with small dogs... they use something "more standard"... whatever it is, and for
whichever reason it might be "more acceptable", I fail to remember.
But for the "small" snakes of Europe, in the wild, frogs are standard snakefood/Schlangenfutter,
no question about that. I've eaten frogs myself (once even with Mario Schweiger, may G/god
forgive us both), and they're really good food...

Ch_beru4.jpg
Photo: Christoph Riegler, 15 April 2006
(Mario was seated opposite to me, so he's not visible in this photo as the "culprit"...

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 2:26 pm
by Jürgen Gebhart
Thanks Guys, sounds great, so I pictured my first Rana latastei, cool!

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:03 pm
by Berislav Horvatic
Jürgen Gebhart wrote:Thanks Guys, sounds great, so I pictured my first Rana latastei, cool!

Well, let's say, most (very, very much) probably you did. But where in Istria? It shouldn't be a secret...
BTW, Mario and I didn't eat Rana latastei - it took place in the delta of Neretva. Nothing illegal.

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:21 pm
by Ilian Velikov
Berislav, it seems like you're getting guilty consciousness over eating those frogs...Don't worry I've eaten them too and I won't even ask for forgivness about it. I can confirm they are really good food, very tender and delicious. The one that people eat are Pelophylax sp. (other species are just too small and not worth it) and there is by far plenty of them on the Balkans to feed all predators including humans. Besides they are not something people eat every day...

Re: Rana ??? Istria

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:42 pm
by Berislav Horvatic
Ilian Velikov wrote:Berislav, it seems like you're getting guilty consciousness over eating those frogs...Don't worry I've eaten them too and I won't even ask for forgivness about it. I can confirm they are really good food, very tender and delicious. The one that people eat are Pelophylax sp. (other species are just too small and not worth it) and there is by far plenty of them on the Balkans to feed all predators including humans. Besides they are not something people eat every day...

No "guilty consciousness" at all, not in the least. There were EIGHT of us fielherpers in the team, and we came there with the idea to eat grilled eels... But it was in early spring, so they had only SIX portions... Then Mario
suggested that the two of us sacrifice for the common good, give up eels, and eat whatever else is available... they had frogs, in abundance.
At first there was some teasing from the eel-consuming majority - "Herpers eating herps... disgusting!", but I raised the question whether a team of ichthyologists would/should refuse to eat grilled eels, or a team of ornithologists refuse to eat chicken, or any other bird... In the end, they couldn't resist tasting a bit of our
frogs, reciprocating with a few morsels of eel... Both were delicious. A happy ending.
The only surprise (for me) was that they served the whole frogs (without intestines), not just the hind legs.
That was something new to me.