Popfrog

While in the swamp, in the bog, and the mire,

avoid large rocks, stumps, and always greenbrier.

For there will hide the monster, old Popfrog,

looking for a fish, bird, maybe a dog.

Giant, hidden, and very hungry too,

look out! PAH-POP! His next meal could be you!

The Popfrog is completely absent in all of recorded history. This is very strange, as megafauna of any kind are always notable, especially to humans. Stories of this animal appear to only remain in verbal, local storytelling. It is possible that those who have encountered the animal have kept its knowledge limited to close family and friends, were not avid writers, or did not want to draw attention to themselves. Claiming to have encountered a giant amphibian would have certainly garnered ridicule without evidence. Nevertheless, small snippets of its existence remain, scattered throughout Ohioan communities. One individual, however, divulged a poem. From their grandfather, who had recited it when near swamp lands, it was always spoken with a laugh. In it, he refers to the creature as “Popfrog.” In other recounts, the animal is called the “Bogfrog” or “Great Swamp Frog.”

Nearly extinct, the Popfrog is native to swamps, fens, and bogs of Ohio. It is believed to be a distant ancestor to other cryptid frogs, such as the Loveland Frogmen.