Wild or farmed, frogs popular with the people of Vientiane

Many people like the sight of a fat frog with big legs in the markets, but it’s important to check them carefully before making a purchase to determine whether they were caught in rice fields or came from a farm.

People breed frogs in their backyards for consumption by their families.

At this time of the year, it isn’t unusual to see rows of rods and fishing lines hung over the shallow water in paddy fields with live worms attached. Such rods can be seen throughout the rice fields in Vientiane, set with the purpose of catching unsuspecting prey.
But these traps have not been set for fish, because the worms are not placed in the water. Instead the worms hang temptingly over the surface of water or mud and they are bait for wild frogs.
Wild frogs cost more and vendors often lie and say frogs are wild when in fact they are not. The two types are similar in appearance. Nowadays, markets sell not only wild frogs but also farmed frogs, and some people breed them in their backyards as a small business.
Most hunters who catch frogs from rice fields will not sell them in markets. These animals are kept for their family’s consumption. Sometimes, there are wild frogs in markets, but not many.
Starting from the middle of this month, the rods will sprout up in large numbers in rice fields. Some people in Khuaydaeng village of Hadxaifong district have begun setting many of these traps in the hope of catching wild frogs. Mr Xang, who was preparing his fishing rods, told me they were being placed to catch frogs.
From this month until the end of Buddhist Lent, a lot of frogs will be hunted and caught, not just by people but by other animals.
This is the season when frogs are traditionally hunted in large numbers as small armies of them swarm across fields and riverbanks. They are eaten and sold throughout Laosy, and are a popular addition to meals everywhere.
In their normal habitat, frogs dig a cool burrow in the ground and eat almost any prey, including insects, snails, spiders, worms and small fish.
Frogs catch insects with their long, sticky tongues. It takes less than a second for a frog’s tongue to roll out, catch its prey and roll back into its mouth.
Mr Xang said the field where he set his rods was full of frogs, jumping everywhere after emerging from the nearby woods. They invade paddy fields in search of insects and small fish.
“Many people grow rice here and hunt frogs, and some fields have almost 100,” he said, as he prepared for his own harvest. Some areas used to echo with the sound of croaking frogs at night, but they can now hardly be heard as eager hunters stalk them with flashlights.
Mr Xang and his family welcome their friends on weekends to share the frogs they have caught. “My friends like to eat them while drinking bottles of Lao whisky,” he said gleefully.
Many people buy frogs at the markets in Vientiane to add to soups, and to fry or grill them.
At present, the frogs are not very big, but when farmers harvest their rice at the end of Buddhist Lent, the hunters will be happier because the frogs will have grown larger.
That is, if they survive until then. Of course, the biggest frogs are best for eating but they could all have disappeared by then as they are already being caught in large numbers.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update July 7, 2022)