Little Lost Froggy

  Back where the creek spills into the Bayou, critters abound.  This area has not been disturbed by humans other than an occasional hike through the muck during the winter months.  It is quite unthinkable to even attempt pushing your way through the brambles any other time of the year plus the threat of stepping on a cottonmouth usually causes most folks to have second thoughts about venturing here.  This is where the fox, coyotes, deer, rabbits, raccoons, possums, bobcats and a multitude of birds reign.  Their habitat is left untouched other than mountains of debris pushed in by hurricanes.  That debris eventually rots down to create huge mounds alongside of the creek.  It also creates "ponds" or small gullies where water settles and wildlife thrives.  It is in these ponds that are mostly fresh water that frogs gather to mate and lay their eggs.  (Others gather in my little Frog Pond!)  Just about dusk each evening, a frog chorus starts at a tumultuous pace.  It is almost deafening at times.  Even with the windows of the Little Bayou House tightly closed, the songs of thousands of frogs of all types can be heard.  I adore the "Froggy Symphony" as my grandmother used to call it.

  I have come accustomed to hearing and seeing the frogs in the back of the house but was a bit surprised to see one in the marsh near the pier. While frogs, for the most part, live in fresh water, they can tolerate some brackish water.  The ones here seem to have adapted well to the occasional high tide that flushes their ponds with brackish water.  They have not suffered any undue problems and are thriving.  Still, the frog near the Bay confused me.  Why was this bullfrog so adamant about traipsing the thousand or so feet from the pools where the other frogs were?  Did it really think it was going to survive in the salt water?

  The frog's presence (although confusing) could be a testament to the amount of rain that the area has received in the past six months or so.  As this rain falls it rushes down the hillside into the marsh.  Perhaps the waters there are now brackish enough for a different group of wildlife to survive.  Most frogs cannot handle much saltwater as they dehydrate rapidly.  This will cause death in a matter of days.  If their eggs are laid in water that contains too much salt, they will not hatch and if an area that is already filled with tadpoles is flooded with saltwater , they will die.  Only the leopard frog that we have here can survive any length of time near the saltwater.  My bullfrog friend seemed to have lost his way and wandered in where he did not belong.  Hopefully, the frog will have sense enough to head northward towards the creek or Frog Pond.