Frog jumping is a competitive pastime for humans in which

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

s are entered into competitions to jump certain distances. Frog jumping contests are held in small communities scattered around the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as part of the folk culture. Frog jumping was made famous in a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

called " The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

. An event, inspired by the Twain story, has been held annually in Angels Camp, in California's Calaveras County, since 1928, with other events held in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Washington, Maine, Missouri, Louisiana, New York, Wisconsin, and also in Manitoba, Canada. With 4,000 contestants in 2007, the Calaveras County contest has imposed strict rules regulating the frog's welfare, including limiting the daily number of a frog's jumps and mandating the playing of calming music in their enclosures. Entering specimens of the California red-legged frog in the competition, since it is an endangered species, is illegal. Participants entering the longest-jumping frog were to win a $750 prize, or $5,000 if their frog were to break the 1986 record of , set by "Rosie the Ribiter."

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* {{Sport-stub Animal festival or ritual Frogs in culture Games and sports introduced in 1928