Froggy, Froggy!

   Just after dark, the Bayou came alive with the sound of music....music of the frogs.  The shrill chirps of the green tree frogs, the warbling trill of the toads and the deep croaks of the bullfrogs filled the air with an unusual chorus.  It was amazing!  I love to hear their singing around the small Frog Pond for once these critters become active for the season, they will consume tons of mosquitoes.  This evening, though, was a bit different.  I had just gone out the back door to feed the new cat, Nycto, when the froggy cacophony began.  It is one of those things that can catch you off guard.  If you happen to be standing in the midst of a hundred or so frogs, the sound can be almost deafening and, well, I was standing near nearly three times that many.  Frogs and toads were everywhere!  Literally....everywhere!

   From my position, I could hear chirping and croaking from every angle even inside.  Whoa!  Wait a minute, frogs are not supposed to be in my house!  Uh oh.  I had to get that critter out of the laundry room and fast!  The tree frogs will dehydrate very quickly especially in a room filled with appliances.  Besides the washer and dryer, a refrigerator and three large deep freezers occupy this room.  The heat generated from all those motors dries the air significantly.  Poor little froggy!  I needed help finding this guy so I called my daughter who just happens to be here this week. 

    After explaining the situation, she and I commenced an all out frog search in the small room.  We moved small items and peered behind the larger ones.  Finally she spotted the frog on the wall behind one of the freezers.  Now came the problem of how to catch a very nimble frog that is in a four inch wide gab between a freezer and a wall. (The freezer being full was far to heavy to move.)  She stretched arm behind the freezer on one side.  The frog moved to the away from her.  She stretched her arm behind the other side.  The frog returned to its original position.  Hmmmm, something told me this was not working!  Ok, so if we both worked together we could get the task accomplished.  She went to the left side of the freezer while I reached behind from the right.  This was enough to cause a major panic in the poor critter.  He leapt toward me, bounced off of my arm and right into the garbage can!  Not thinking twice about it, my left hand cupped over the Froggy and closed around his moist, squishy body.  I had him!  Now to retrieve my right hand from behind the freezer without letting go of my prize. This was not an easy task for an old lady but after a few minutes, I righted myself and headed to the door.  Not two steps from freedom, the frog decided to mount an escape!  He squeezed himself between my finger and thumb.  Suddenly I spied a pair of large eyes peeping out of my hand followed by little feet and the upper part of his body.  Instinctively, I clamped my hand tighter.  Big mistake!  The frog's survival tactics kicked in and he peed!  Ugh!  Well, I could not let go just yet as I was still inside.  Elizabeth got the giggles which, in turn, caused me to giggle and that was all it took for us to become seriously unable to even open the door.  Poor Froggy was now terrified and squirming like nobody's business!  After what seemed like an hour of holding a squishy, squirmy, peeing frog to me and perhaps a lifetime to Froggy, I finally managed to get out on the porch.  Then another brilliant idea!  Pictures!  We needed photographs of Froggy!  She raced to get the camera leaving me with the frog.  She stepped back out to take pictures when the frog had enough of these shenanigans!  He gave one last squirm before making his escape into the pear tree!  

  His leap left Elizabeth and me in another fit of giggles.  We did manage to snap a few photographs of Froggy as he tried his best to hide among the leaves.  Finally, I think he just gave up thinking perhaps if he posed for the camera we would go away and stop bothering him.  Aww, good Froggy!  Now go have some fun with your froggy friends!