SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, May 7, 2012

Freddy the Frog becomes Fredericka

Warning: may contain topics and pictures that do not appeal to some, such as toads and their slimy eggs. 
Freddy the Frog Becomes Fredericka

This little frog has stolen our hearts. Well, some of our hearts, my husband thinks we are all crazy. He may be right. But I am not ashamed!

 Freddy the Frog as it turns out, is a female toad. We had to change her name quickly from Freddy to Fredericka. Here's how we figured it out, or rather, my oldest son, the Encyclopedia did.

After we "let her go" last week, She remained outside our fence all night. When he opened our gate in the morning, she hopped right back in our backyard, even after all this!

She seemed particularly interested in the storage bin we had filled with water.
Freddy the Frog becomes Fredericka
 At night however, we took her out for fear she might not be able to get food. Cuz doesn't she looked starved?

Well as it turns out there was a reason for her "fluffiness". She was packed full of eggs ready to be laid. In the morning, I felt horrible, as she had already started the process which was supposed to happen in the water. That black smear is a whole generation of lost toads!!! There's a teensy bit of a chance I could be taking this too far.

We immediately put her in the water bin.

As soon as Fredericka was put back in the water, that toady mama started laying eggs like you wouldn't believe! At first she began with a cute little strand of 6 or 7. She was only getting started people. For the next 24 hours she labored and worked and pushed out more eggs than we could count. It was a beautiful thing to watch. If you click on the picture and look closely, what looks like long black twisty beads, are the eggs.

I have a whole new respect for female toads. I wanted to bring her a glass of water and take her through some breathing exercises or something. "Focus on the large children all gaping at you from above, Fredericka, you can do it!"

Even though we have been informed that if Mr. Fredericka was not present they are probably not fertilized, we are still preparing for tadpoles by chance that he was present at some point. Here are the names picked out so far:

Girl Tadpoles:
Fredericka Jr.
Toadette
Tella
Toadella
Toadalisa
Theresa (have to get a catholic name in there)

Boy Tadpoles:
Kermit
Toader
Toady
Telly
Toaddles
Hoppy

And I know toads don't care about their eggs, but we took her out of the water last night as it appeared she was done (Phew, what a woman!), put her in the grass, and she hasn't moved an inch. Yes, she is still alive.

Fredericka could win your heart too, if you will just let her in. 




1 comment :

  1. Okay, this seriously has to be the coolest thing ever. Incredible! I hope you'll be keeping us posted on their progress... ha ha!

    ReplyDelete