 "Photo: Josh Rabon")
The soaring temperatures of spring bring the bellowing of bullfrogs from local waters, and for some students that bellowing equates to a dinner time treat.
"They taste like chicken," said first-year business student Brooks Whiteside. "They are actually pretty good, not what most people think frog would taste like."
Frog legs, a delicacy in some parts of the world, are commonly served fried, similar to chicken legs. In China, where the frogs are referred to as "field chickens," they are used in many recipes.
The most common way to capture bullfrogs is by gigging. Giggers use flashlights to search for the frogs and blind them. Stunned by the light, the bullfrog sits still as the gigger carefully approaches, aims, and thrusts a spear through the frog.
The spear is commonly referred to as a gig, and generally has three to five prongs arranged in a trident fashion, allowing for multiple prongs to pierce the frog and retrieve it.
The intensity leading up to the strike lures first-year biology student and gigger Wes Webb to the swamps.
"The fact that you are actually out there chasing something, hunting it, is so exciting," Webb said. "The rush as you stalk the frog is surprisingly intense."
First-year political science student John Lumpkin gigged his first frog last week, and said he plans to go back.
"You don't think about it, but it's really intense when you are sneaking up on it," Lumpkin said. "Each step you take feels like it makes a ton of noise, and you just hope it isn't going to jump away."
The gigs, which can be purchased at most outdoor shops for less than five dollars, are usually mounted on broomsticks, but Whiteside said he has used other methods as well.
"The first time I went we used a gig that was mounted on a collapsible painting rod, so they could shrink to fit in the car and then expand when it was time to gig," Whiteside said.
Some frog hunters bypass gigging altogether and shoot a .22 caliber rifle into the water as close to the frog as possible without hitting it. The impact stuns the frog long enough for the hunter to gather the frog, remove the legs, and continue the hunt.
Webb said gigging reminded him of cave drawings of men hunting dinosaurs.
"It is so primitive, like going back in history," Webb said. "You feel like you are back in your element. You understand where you came from."
Frog gigging is currently unregulated by the department of natural resources, but potential giggers are advised to be cautious of where they capture frogs to eat. Frogs are not fish and do not process chemicals in the same way fish do, but fish advisory warnings can be found online at http://www.scdhec.net/water/fish/, allowing giggers to know what is in the water with their frogs.
Lumpkin said he is hooked on gigging.
"I can't wait to go again," Lumpkin said. "I plan on going many times this summer."
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