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Garden journal entry |
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July 07, 2017. Last week, while I was on a business trip, I got several phone calls from the home front. The first reported, disgustedly, "There's a new kind of toad - it goes BEK BEK BEK all night, and kept us all awake". Later that evening, an important update: "We caught it - it's not a toad but a frog. A little cute guy". A quick search determined that it was an American tree frog, which is apparently common in the southeastern US, but doesn't occur as far north as Pennsylvania. I was excited –
finding new vertebrate species in the garden is an uncommon occurrence. Unfortunately, the family minus papa decided that frog had to go, due to its violating the homestead noise ordnance, and after taking a few pictures for me, they released it to the neighborhood's common lake. But a week after I returned home, there was that "BEK BEK BEK" again. As before, it was Ben who spotted the frog first. When I found him, he was clinging to a horsetail stalk along our pond's stream. The family is determined to continue their forced migration policy, so this one too got captured. In the process of transferring it between containers in the kitchen, it amazed us by escaping, jumping from a high counter onto the floor, and promptly clambering up the kitchen cabinets with its suction-cup toes. Neat-o! I think his family and friends are likely to keep finding our pond, and would like to accommodate them in our garden's ecosystem. Anybody know of a BEK BEK BEK noise canceling device? |
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Lisa at Greenbow | Aug 06, 2017 | I think it is hysterical that you build a pond, plant up your garden then have such a tadoo about wildlife coming in. Surely when you are more used to your surroundings the wild population will be able to grow and thrive herein.
I just found your journal and went back to read about this new garden. I admire your diligence in learning a new zone and creating a garden. Best of luck.
We actually wound up releasing the second frog back into our pond, but he/she left, and we haven't been visited by its kin since then. The toads, on the other hand, they keep on trilling! |
| Amy | Sep 09, 2017 | Hey Lisa- we actually love the wildlife and have always enjoyed the different creatures that wind up in our gardens. But, this frog fellow- o.m.g.! Earplugs, pillows, white noise- none of it was effective to cover up the loud-as-a-car-alarm sound this guy was making! It wasn't a big deal to relocate him to the neighborhood pond. He had more bugs to eat there anyhow. Peace to you.
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