WE OPENED THE SEASON HERE WITH A SALAMANDER, whom I’d fished from the little pool out back while mucking out debris. Trusty garden helper and small-game handler Susan held him for his portrait, and we both enjoyed the moment (not sure he did), a special kickoff to spring. This week, as we began fall cleanup, another omen: The littlest frogboy ever hijacked a ride indoors.
“Susan,” I hollered, “I need a hand…literally.” And so as she got him ready for his photo op, extracting him from the bromeliad he was hiding in (the one that used to outside, not inside, the kitchen door), I ran for the camera.
He was hard to key out in the guidebooks, frankly (a step I always take when I meet a new frogboy). He was tiny like a spring peeper, but lacked the typical dark X pattern on his back that they have. And he was too small (and in the wrong ‘hood by many, many miles) to be anything else, or so it seemed.
But finally, thanks to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology website, I got the secret: He’s a yearling gray treefrog, which accounts for his mere half-adult size. Read more about this changeable creature, whom we gently returned to the place where the houseplant had been, and watched as he hopped through the grass and up a large leaf nearby.
I live for these serendipities: When we began opening up the garden, we were served an Eastern Spotted salamander; when we began closing it, a gray treefrog. Bookends on an eventful debut blogging season, with a red newt and a lot of big, sexy frogboys in between. Magic.
He’s a darling little frog. Thank you for showing him so we can get a close up view.
I am fascinated with tree frogs, how cool to have held one. They are simply amazing. Thank you for sharing him or her.
I love frogs. Always have. I’m so glad to see that they are your “spokes folks”.
Welcome, Charlotte. Love the expression “spokes folks.” Thank you for that, and for visiting. See you soon again.
Great pictures! Little frogs are so adorable! They used to appear on my deck sometimes but I didn’t see them this year.
Frogs caused my lurking at your site. That one is beautiful. I’m trying to encourage more in my tiny courtyard here In New Orleans. I thought I saw an odd fly one day on the bricks, but on looking closer, realized it was a tiny brown frog with a black “V” on its back. I often wondered if that was an adult. Your pictures are inspiring.
Hi Margaret, I’m love with that little guy!
Margaret, I meant in love with that little guy!
Margaret…Your frogs are cuter than mine. You might enjoy looking at a frog that took up residence in a tub at my New Jersey home in July. ~ Rosemary
http://contentinacottage.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-new-bff-best-frog-friend.html
if you have frogs, then you must have a snake or two. the snakes that share their property with me, jake and son of jake, love frogs.
FROGS!! This is just too cute — great picture.
The tiny tree frogs often “stick” to the windows on our French doors, giving us a great opportunity to see them up close. Yesterday, I found a very large toad in the garden, tucked up in the butterfly ginger. There is another one that lives in the dry streambed who watches me whenever I pull weeds out from the rocks. I also had a bright orange Eastern Mud Salamander hidden in the ice plant back in the early spring. Wildlife watching is certainly fun! Cameron
I want cute frogs. In TX, we just get big ugly toads. Boo hiss!
Frogboy for President!
Welcome, Porter…and thanks for the positive feedback. He really was adorable, and like the size of my thumbnail.
Welcome also to Naomi, and likewise thank you for the compliment on the pictures. I am trying…photography is not my expertise, but it’s very enjoyable and I am learning. It is fascinating from your comment and the others here already (Melinda’s, Cameron’s, Rosemary’s…) to think of the diversity in these creatures. I worry when I read how pressured they are all around the world.
@Chris: Yes, snakes live in the garden as well. Not so crazy about them, but respect them and would never hurt one. Somehow disinclined to crawl around photographing them as I do the frogs… :)
So cute!
You already saw our bull frog friend http://belleadorn.blogspot.com/2008/09/latest-critter-catches-bunny-bull-frog.html
So here’s a link to a post with a couple of our tree frogs http://belleadorn.blogspot.com/2008/05/tree-frog.html
Thanks for the research you have here, interesting. Tina
wonderful post, reminds me of all the living treasures we have come across in our own garden over the years. Beautiful images too.
Welcome, 5preciousthings, all the way from Scotland. I am glad to see you here and hope you will stop back again soon.
The photo of him on the leaf is so adorable. He’s pondering life and his lessons learned…
My garden is a home for an assortment of various sized toads. They are not a cute as your tree frog but they have a kind of weird and funny charm. I am fascinated by them. They each have their own territory and seem to be watching me as intently and as intelligently as I watch them. I believe that they were put on this earth to reassure us that God does have a sense of humor.
He’s a beaut and a perfect ending to a beautiful season!
animal planet, copake falls edition. loves it.
Welcome, Dizzydog. A wonderful way of expressing it: Yes, toads are humor incarnate. The Latin name for the genus they are in, Bufo, also strikes me as funny somehow. I have a giant of a toad in my barn, and another under the stoop by the house, and I adore them. And you are right: they watch us like we watch them, or appear to. Thanks for visiting.
End of the season? Fall may have arrived on Monday morning, but we have a long way to go before we can write the end to this garden year.
Indeed, Gardenboy. I believe in a 365-day garden, as you know. It’s the official start of the “cleanup” season for me, the end/closing of the tender parts of the garden…but by no means an end.
I love measuring the year with experiences in nature instead of a calendar. Now I need to get to work on my cleanup.
I had two bright green tiny tree frogs for two years in my back yard (Dallas,TX). I had no idea where they came from and sadly they disappeared this year. But, I do remember the excitement of their sightings.
This lil frogboy is too cute to boot!
i hope this doesn’t mean you have finished blogging for the season! Your blog is my daily treat.
@Laura: No, I figured you wouldn’t let me off the hook that easy. We have a long way to go together, all of us: We must clean up the spent bits, and revel in the stuff that’s still to come. A year-round deal I guess here, huh? Maybe a little slower now through February than March to September was, but at least a couple of days a week of new stuff even in the quietest of times. And you never know, I may get energized and post more in winter than I think.
We love our amphibians here in the Pacific Northwest. In 2007 the pacific chorus frog was actually named the State amphibian. I copied the below information from the internet. They are, in my experience, hard to photograph, so I appauld your efforts and the results. I have one of a frog landing on a very large orange pumpkin, but it is a bit fuzzy.
State Amphibian
Pseudacris regilla
In 2007, the Pacific chorus frog was designated as the official amphibian of the State of Washington.
Because Pacific chorus frogs live in every county in the state and on both sides of the Cascades, they are an excellent choice as an emblem for the whole state. The Pacific chorus frog is charming and makes beautiful sounds. Less than two inches long, they swell their throat sacs to three times the size of their heads to send their calls into the night. This amphibian is useful because it eats insects, including mosquitoes. It is recognizable by the black stripe through the eye to the shoulder, and can be brown, tan, grey or green. A native amphibian, it is preyed upon by bullfrogs, snakes, raccoons, shorebirds, hawks and ducks.
A third grade class at Boston Harbor Grade School in north Olympia, demonstrated excellent knowledge about the political process in making this proposal to the Legislature as the project involved science, research, art, and persuasive writing.