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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsI am having rotten luck with frogs.
When I removed a canopy the other day, I pinched one between the fabric and the PVC, but didn't know he was stuck. He looked fine and appeared to be hiding so I left him alone. I came back two hours later and found him hanging by his neck and shoulder. Fluid was filling up in his lower abdomen so I thought he was dead. But I managed to move the pipe and he was strong enough to evade me. I don't know if his hand is smashed beyond repair, but I haven't seen him since.
And tonight, a small one got into the house. We have one of the moisture removing air conditions so I don't have much hope for him. I'll leave a bowl of water out but that will only help for a few days. The small ones are harder to catch than the big ones.
WheelWalker
(8,955 posts)forever immobile; but, compassionate as he is toward reptiles and amphibs, he wrapped it in a saturated towel and not too long later we heard the immortal "croak". Seriously, the thing was dry as toast, and was reconstituted... an event celebrated here as a miracle of tenacity.
Baitball Blogger
(46,736 posts)They get trapped in the outside bathroom all the time so I'll have a reason to use that information, eventually.
NV Whino
(20,886 posts)The cats bring them inside. They hide. They dry up... unless they end up in the cats' water dish. I find them and take them outside, put them in a damp plant saucer, and the next thing I know, they're reconstituted and gone.
applegrove
(118,694 posts)through a armada of frogs, and of course many died as they were hopping across a 4 lane highway. The pouring rain may have lured them to their deaths. That haunts me to this day it was so traumatizing. I collect frogs I find in stores. Didn't know I was going a collector of anything but I worked in a gift shop that had all sorts of froggy like things. It brought back the joy of childhood and helping toads along the dirt road or playing in the frog pond as a kid.
Baitball Blogger
(46,736 posts)I could only see the side and it reminded me of a horned lizard.
applegrove
(118,694 posts)gifts on my mantle. Lucky you.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,202 posts)It's a process like hibernation, except it's in response to dryness and heat. Their metabolism slows and they store urine in their bladder which provides enough water to great them through the dry season.
Baitball Blogger
(46,736 posts)have been saved.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,202 posts)I guess they can wake up after a hard rain. But amphibian species aren't doing to well between habitat encroachment and air and water pollution. Growing up in Houston in the 60s, there were frogs EVERYWHERE. We even had our own species, the Houston toad. They are now endangered with less than 5000 in the wild.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)She's been living on my kitchen counter since summer...in a week it will be three months. She came in during the summer drought to get water and once she discovered my sink, that was it. I'm still feeding her bugs that I find, but will have to buy food for her soon. She refuses to stay outside. I've put her out dozens of times and the next day she's right back up on my sink. I made her a little cardboard house to hide in and she is finally using it. Right now she is soaking in my mortar and pestle, which sits in the window sill. I keep a little water in it for her, and also a flat water plate in the sink at night when I go to bed.
She is adorable, and I just hope she survives till spring when the boys start calling for girlfriends. It gets pretty cold in my place in deep winter, so she may actually hibernate in here.
Laffy Kat
(16,383 posts)Does she have a name? Just be careful of the disposal.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)I don't have a disposal, so no worries there. She has made me super OCD about keeping the counters and sinks absolutely clean (no soap residue or anything anywhere), because they don't drink water. They sit in it and absorb it through their skin, so they are very susceptible to toxins they come in contact with. So far so good and my kitchen is cleaner than it's ever been. It's like Pippy Longstockings who used to make cookies on her kitchen floor (well, my floor isn't that clean ). I have cats and dogs all over, so no cookies on the floor. But you could eat off my kitchen counters.
I don't have to worry as much during the day, but when I go to bed, she comes out to use the sink, so I can't go to bed until I know it's pristine!
I sing to her every day.
Somewhere down in Yackety Yack,
A tree frog jumped from bank to bank
Just because there's nothing better to do
She stubbed her toe, fell in the water
You could hear her holler for a mile and a quarter
Just because there's nothing better to do.
Whose song was this? I changed it a little. It was about a male bull frog. Woody Guthrie maybe? She just watches me most of the day, or sometimes she just sits on the backsplash and goes to sleep. Doesn't matter how much noise I make around her. She just sits there waiting to be fed.
Baitball Blogger
(46,736 posts)passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)They really are fascinating and I knew almost nothing about them. I hope your squishy frog made it. They are pretty flexible, so it's possible. They really do love to hide under tarps. I find them outside under my tarps every time I have to move or replace one. They hibernate under them every winter.
Laffy Kat
(16,383 posts)passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Not an experience I'm ever likely to have again.
I just thought of a name for her this morning and I think I like it. I met a beautiful and sweet young woman at the laundromat on Monday, who helped me make a pleasant visit out of a trip that I was really dreading. I hate laundromats, but I tore my down comforter trying to wash it in a top loader at home. She worked there and was so helpful showing me how to use these new complicated machines, and it was late at night and we chatted the whole time I was there, while she folded laundry. Her name is Yesenia, and her nickname is Yesi, which I think is so cute. I showed her some pictures of my frog (I keep my camera in my purse) and she was delighted...I think I'm going to call the frog Yesi in her honor.
I wish I could post some pics here, but I'm technologically challenged and don't know how to do wifi yet. I need to download them onto a laptop I haven't even learned how to use yet, with wifi, so all the pictures I'm taking on my new camera are still sitting on the camera. The PC I'm using now is not wifi capable. I even bought a cable from Amazon to manually download pics, but it's so short I have to lay on the floor under my desk to use it and my body won't let me do that.
Laffy Kat
(16,383 posts)Has a nice ring to it.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Where I live is full of frogs and toads. I'm sending you all the frog and toad vibes I can.
I know the horror of hurting one unintentionally. Gah.
It's gonna be ok.
Baitball Blogger
(46,736 posts)He got to the far side of the house and in just 24 hours he had lost the vigor in his hop so it was easy to scoop him up in cup.
When I dumped him on outside on familiar ground I swear he did a happy dance.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Frog happy dance.