Boy’s frog-catching has some hopping mad at Verona Park

NJ regulations are on his side

From a young age, 12-year-old Sam Ibold has not been afraid to handle wildlife.

When he was 8, on a Cub Scout outing at Rockaway’s Camp Lewis, the boy grabbed a garter snake off the ground and paraded it around.

“He’s that type of kid,” his father Matt Ibold said.

 

“I like animals so much, and I don’t like to see anything harmed,” Sam said. “The creatures were here first.”

A Verona boy’s summer pastime of catching frogs has met nasty opposition from some parkgoers, who are jumping to conclusions about New Jersey’s environmental regulations.

The anger prompted his father to make a laminated card explaining the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Division’s position, which allows taking up to 15 green or bull frogs daily. The boy keeps the rules in his pocket, along with pictures of the amphibians he can catch.

“As a Scout leader, versus him sitting around playing video games, I’ve always told him to find something to do,” his dad said. “We have a park, and we should take advantage of that.”

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Sam has been catching green and bullfrogs by hand or a dip net at the Verona Lake for at least six years. His family lives on Harrison, a few streets east of the Essex County bucolic parkland . Sometimes his friends join in the fun.

The frogs are not harmed, his father contended.

“He enjoys collecting, observing and releasing them,” Matt Ibold said. “Ninety-nine percent of what he catches, including fish, he releases.”

Not all amused

Sam’s adventures started getting ugly about three years ago, when passer-byers periodically began harassing him for his hobby.

“This is absolutely illegal,” one woman screeched, as a man accompanying her concurred, Matt Ibold said of a recent incident he witnessed. “They said, ‘Put that frog back, or else I’ll call the police,’” Sam added.

“They wouldn’t let it go,” Matt said of the couple’s persistence.

The alleged bullying is “not all the time, but it’s been with such intensity, that it’s inappropriate,” he said.

Sam has not reported anyone being physically aggressive toward him, but his father is worried about that possibility.

“You want to educate people, but they can be closed-minded and emotional when it comes to animals,” the elder Ibold said.

Regulations

Lawrence Hajna, spokesman for the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Division, confirmed the 15-limit regulation on Sam’s laminated card. It applies to anyone with a fishing license, but as in Sam’s case, children under 16 do not require a license.

The green and bull frogs, however, cannot be taken between April 1 and June 30, their breeding season, according to the state agency. The amphibians also cannot be sold without a Commercial Harvest Permit, which is not a concern for the Ibolds.

All bets are off in the case of the endangered Southern gray tree frog or threatened Pine Barrens tree frog. If you take one of those out of its habitat, you’ll have some explaining to do.

 In regards to the harassment, the Ibolds think they have another law in their favor.

The State of New Jersey prohibits stopping the lawful taking of wildlife, including catching amphibians. That covers even attempting to “disturb, alarm or annoy a person lawfully taking wildlife,” with fines between $100 and $500, the legislation states.

‘Right frame of mind’

Tedor Whitman, executive director of the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum in the Short Hills section of Millburn, is no lightweight when it comes to protecting wildlife or disturbing their habitats.

His facility is a New Jersey chapter leader for FrogWatch USA, a national citizen program that monitors frog populations. The arboretum trains volunteers to count frogs in area wetlands.

“Frogs are a good environmental indicator,” Whitman said. “If frogs disappear, there may be something wrong in the wetlands.”

Based on Sam’s story, Whitman gives the boy a pass.

“There’s two ways of looking at it,” Whitman said. “You want people to be interested in science and the natural world to help them become good stewards. At the same time, there’s only so much nature to go around.”

“It sounds like the kid has the right frame of mind,” he said. “As long as he doesn’t harm them, [innocent exploration] should be supported.”

A representative for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey could not be reached for comment.

Dipping in the duckweed on Verona Lake’s surface, Sam was catching and releasing snails, turtles and dragonflies one recent afternoon. Frogs were a no show, and so were the boy’s detractors.

“You catch any frogs today?” asked Leo Golba, as he stride by on the paved path around the lake.

“I see kids catching frogs all the time,” the West Orange resident said. “We’ve got some big bullfrogs here.”

“They call themselves environmentalists,” Golba said of the Sam’s harassers, “but they have their own version of the environment [in mind].”

Email: proctor@northjersey.com

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