I have become fascinated with frogs. They are interesting creatures, to say the least. Since we installed our goldfish pond a few years back, frogs have paid us visits. Some have come via the tadpoles I bought and introduced to the pond while others just show up. Where they came from, I have no clue, but my neighbor Kenny Hoy said a snapping turtle showed up one day in his driveway, miles away … [Read more...]
A Teenchy, Tiny Frog
One of my favorite Uncle Remus stories is “Teenchy Tiny Duck”, a tale of little puddle duck who found a satchel of money. I read it often and drive my children crazy, but my grandkids enjoy the story. I don’t have a Teenchy Tiny Duck in my backyard, but I do have a Teenchy Tiny Frog – a really Teenchy Tiny Frog. When he is perched on a lily pad, he appears to be about the size of marble, no … [Read more...]
“Jug o’ rum! Jug o’ rum!”
We have a bullfrog in our pond. We can hear him croak from time to time. Not the deep bass “Jug o’ rum! Jug o’ rum!” that a mature bullfrog makes. But a nice fat croak. I think this bull frog was a late developing tadpole from a half dozen bullfrog tadpoles we bought about a year ago. Most of the tadpoles became frogs quickly, then seemed to vanish, but “Billy Bull” hung in there and now … [Read more...]
Waterfront Property
Maybe the best investment we have ever made was when we installed our small goldfish pond in our backyard three years ago. We have since enjoyed countless hours beside our “waterfront” property. Having a retreat like this is a true bonus for a homeowner. And it’s not that difficult to install one. Last weekend, we made a visit to Springdale Water Gardens in Greenville to pick up a few … [Read more...]
Pond Update
We had two resident frogs going into last winter and last week we had had two resident frogs that apparently awoke from the dead. Well, almost dead. Frogs go into suspended animation as the water turns cold. They simply turn off their body systems. They don’t breathe, they don’t move, they just slink down to the bottom of the pond and wait till the longer days and sunshine warms the pond, then … [Read more...]
Green Frogs
All frogs are green, aren’t they? No, some are brown, some are tan, and some are gray. But some frogs are really called “Green Frogs” and that’s what I have in my pond. For the past few years, each spring we have noticed hundreds of tiny tadpoles in Nancy’s lily pond - basically a 35-gallon tub where she grows water lilies. They would dart here and there for a few weeks, then … [Read more...]
A Frog Factory
We have a little frog factory going in our back yard, there are lots of frogs and I don’t know how they all got there. Maybe the frog stork dropped them off? But we have frogs. We began this year with three holdovers that sunk to the bottom of our little goldfish pond last winter, then came back to life this spring. One was a bullfrog that had grown from a tadpole I bought and the … [Read more...]
Billy Bull’s First Fish
I remember my first fish. It was a stubby little bluegill caught in a farm pond near my hometown of Raleigh. My resident bullfrog, Billy Bull, also caught his first fish and it may have been bigger than my first bluegill. I was feeding Billy some meal worms on a recent afternoon during cocktail hour. He had seen me sit down and moseyed his way over, knowing there were snacks at hand. … [Read more...]
A Bird Frog
My resident bull frog, Billy Bull, has quite an appetite, but he may have bitten off more than he can chew. This week, he tried to eat bird. Nancy was in the back year putzing around and saw a small house finch land on a rock in our goldfish pod to get a sip of water. Unfortunately, the little finch landed on a rock next to out resident bullfrog, Billy Bull. Bill Bull immediately … [Read more...]
A Near Sighted Frog
I should have named him Mr. Magoo instead of Billy Bullfrog because my pond resident is blind as a bat. Perhaps, he’s not blind, but he surely lacks depth perception. My late afternoon routine these days – barring rainstorms – is sitting beside our small goldfish pond and tossing live mealworms on lily pads for Billy’s dinner. The one-year-old bull frog is pretty good at seeing the worms … [Read more...]
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