We're stingy about pets around here. We have the two 17 year old cats, who are in charge, and this guy, the frog. The default pet in a household that doesn't buy pets.
He is over a year old now, and how he's lived this long is a mystery to us all. Last August we took a wonderful vacation to a family cabin on the Smith River near the California/Oregon border. It was beautiful and idyllic and the water was clear. Best of all, for the kids, the rocky bank was coated with tiny frogs and the water was full of polliwogs. Other people can call them tadpoles, we think polliwog is a much more fun word.
Against my better judgement, a jar of polliwogs came home with us. Legs began to sprout all over the place and I plunked down the money for an aquarium and frog food and gravel and a heating lamp and on and on.
When they became full-fledged frogs they were small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil eraser. I believe we had about 20 of these tiny hoppers in the aquarium. As expected, they didn't last long, and when it seemed that the last of them had taken the porcelain whirlpool to frog heaven, I told Drama Girl she had to clean out that tank.
She put it off a few days, then took it outside and began hosing it out. Then I heard her squeal.
"MOM! ONE'S STILL ALIVE!!"
Unbelievable.
And here he is a year later. He's about 3 inches long now and would probably be king of the frogs if his family could see him. I think I've sunk about $200 into distilled water, meal worms, crickets, and heating light bulbs. He's endured pet sitters twice while we went away on vacation.
He's not interesting. He's not cuddly, and he doesn't have any personality. The kids never even got around to giving him a name. But they love him. As much as my husband doesn't want any more pets in the house, I think when this frog finally goes, the kids deserve a hamster or something.
Anybody who can keep this guy alive for this long, is a pretty good pet owner.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Frog
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
11 people stopped folding laundry to write:
So do you just call it FROG?
Feed Frog.
Did you clean FROG'S aquarium?
FROG needs some flies.
On the old show "Petticoat Junction" they called their dog, "DOG." I'm just throwing out mind blowing facts and comments today.
I'm feeling particularly insightful.
We collected eggs from the pond this spring and have watched them slowly turn from eggs to polliwogs to frogs. It's been very fun. But now we have about 15 tiny little frogs in the aquarium and no not what to feed tiny little frogs. What did you feed them when they were so tiny?
We used to catch tiny tree frogs all the time when I was a kid. My mom never let us bring them home though. I think she knew they'd be doomed.
You're a cool mom for bringing "Frog" and his friends home.
That is like the Jesus Christ of frogs. The second coming of the frog.
YES! get a hamster. We have 2 and I ADORE them. So cute. Easy to care for...and they are hysterical to watch. Besides that- they don't eat their food LIVE.
The irony? My boys want a FROG.
That's one amazing frog!
And just so you know, hamster + cats doesn't mix. We found that out the hard way, one cold winter morning as I left my bedroom to be greeted by the "gift" our genius cats had managed to fish out of the fully locked, completely unopenable hamster cage.
oh I better not tell my daughter about this post, she's a bug/animal whatever nut, I once found a container of slugs in her room eeeewwww
Love everything about this...right down to your reluctant(but obvious)affection for the amphibian.
Ribbit!
And yes, polliwog trumps tadpole. No contest.
What an amazing frog haha
OMG, this is like my 3 year old hermit crab that will not die...mayb they are stealth.
funny story, and how funny that they never named the frog
Scooter got two thirty cent goldfist for her second birthday...one died overnight...the other lived THREE YEARS. We now have a bunny and kitten...the dog will come later, I'm sure.
Blessings, E
Post a Comment