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This & That: The Frog Explosion!
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Posted by pegconnelly Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:10:13 PDT
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The Frog Explosion

Its baby frog time again! These tiny little hoppers are all over my yard. Every time I go outside in the evening they are jumping across the lawn, in the flower beds and all over my sidewalk. It's hard not to step on them. They must number in the hundreds this time of year. My little dog was startled at first, but now she tries to play with them, chasing them and barking until they get themselves hidden under some plant. Then off she goes looking for another little green frog. She doesn’t have to look very hard, they seem to be everywhere.
 

I seldom see them in the daytime, but the minute the sun starts going down they appear as if by magic. It's hard to imagine so many little frogs could hide during the day without my noticing them. They are cute when they are small, and I love having them in my yard. They seem to keep the bug population down
 

During my days as a Rural Mail Carrier I can remember one area that had maybe twenty houses. Stagecoach, Buckboard, and Carriage were the street names of this small tract. Each house had its own mail box and as I drove down this street every single box on the North side had baby frogs in them. The first box I opened I nearly jumped out of my car when a tiny frog jumped through the window and landed in my lap. Seeing some little boys giggling across the street I realized what was in store for me.
 

From then on, I would open the boxes and lift out the frogs before I put the mail in the boxes. That ruined all the fun the boys were having, but it made me remember that little boys will be little boys. They saw me jump once, so they had their thrill for the day. I waved to them as I drove away and they waved back knowing they had tricked me once, which was all they could ask for.
 

I know a lot of these baby croakers get run over, eaten by cats, and simply die in the normal process of trying to grow to adulthood. Its part of life’s cycle, but I certainly hope some of them live to become big croakers, my yard's going to need all the help it can get this year.

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Comment From: britgal

One of my dogs tries to "play" with the frogs in our flowerbeds, but that means "eat" to him. We need to keep an eye on that situation! I love hearing the frogs... Such a perfect summer sound! Comment From: dweaver3

This is such a funny post! I can see those little rascals hoping to scare the mail lady, and I can see Peg's kind tolerance of their fun. I've visited friends at The Springs apartments where synthetic streams spruce up the landscape, and they've told me how loudly their frogs serenade them during summer. It's nice that nature can survive in such an urban environment!