Today is Theme Thursday - Pets.
I wasn't going to participate this week as I had nothing prepared, but someone hopped in this morning, bringing back a fond memory.
A few years ago our pool would get green from lack of maintenance - okay, MY lack of maintenance - and frogs would come by and breed, leaving their clutches of eggs floating around in the pool. Soon thereafter, the eggs developed into tadpoles and since I didn't have the heart to shock the pool and kill them, I scooped up as many as I could and deposited them into an aquarium, complete with gravel, a water filter and food.
They soon matured into these tiny little frogs that were no bigger than a pinkie finger's nail and would hug the sides of the aquarium for days. When they were large enough they eventually escaped, making me chase the little buggers all over the house. Upon recapture, the froglets were liberated to our garden.
These rescues went on for a couple of years, but I had since learned to cover the aquarium with a screen.
Once again, breeding season has arrived and every night we are inundated with the very loud and obnoxious croaks of their mating rituals. Oy.
This morning, while having my coffee, I hear this moist thud on the floor not four feet away. At first I thought a small bird had smucked itself into the door and fell inside. A closer inspection of the thud revealed it to be a large frog. Once again, I had to chase the larger little bugger around the house, this time to save it from becoming the latest "toy" for one of our dogs, who was also not four feet away from it's arrival. This particular dog doesn't play with the usual dog toys, oh no! Instead, she chases lizards and cats and plays with coconuts, brooms, watering cans and pretty much anything else that may be within reach. I once tried to get her to fetch a tennis ball. She ran away from it.
I let the frog go in the garden and I thought to myself, "I wonder if it was one of those I had saved and came back to thank me". Probably not, but I would like to think so.
