Found commonly over much of the east coast and as far west as Texas, the pickerel frog lives happily in Virginia’s Piedmont. While it looks similar to the leopard frog, the pickerel’s distinctive rectangular spots are an easy way to tell the two species apart. As you would expect of any frog, the pickerel is often found near streams and ponds. The lack of webbing between its toes also suggests that it spends more time on land than other frogs.
Amazingly, the pickerel frog is the only poisonous frog native to North America. Similar to eastern American toads, the toxin it secretes through its skin is only mildly irritating to humans if rubbed in the eyes or mucus membranes. However, its poison is more potent to smaller animals and even deadly to amphibians.
Life Within The Bounds 