Bullfrogs!!!

When I was newly married, my DH and I lived in an apartment that backed onto a pond. This pond was very active with wildlife, with everything from fish to swans. There were lots of mallard ducks there, and occassionally we'd have some Canadian geese decide to stop by, but that always got Gus (the male swan) so upset, he'd spend all day chasing them from one end of the pond to the other until the geese finally decided to leave, with much honking accompanying them! I remember one evening looking out the patio doors to see 2 deer drinking from the pond - it was such a serene sight. Another night, I saw a fox trotting over the frozen pond on his way to the field on the other side (to hunt mice maybe?).

Through all this, there was the constant sound of crickets and bullfrogs in the background. It was a constant sound in the summers and one I came to enjoy very much. Since we moved from our apartment into our house in the middle of a small town 8 years ago, I've missed the sound of those frogs singing me to sleep. Apparently, my sweet DH knew how much I missed them, because one day a couple of weeks ago, I got a call while at work from him, telling me that there was a bullfrog in our back yard!

When I got home, we sat outside for a bit, waiting for the bullfrog to announce himself. It wasn't very long before he did! He was against the cement wall that backs our property, under a lot of weeds, near our woodpile. Well, immediately, Mookie, our outdoor kitty decided to investigate - which caused Pips, our Australian Shepherd dog to wonder what the fuss was about, too. So, DH and I had to play rescue the wildlife and try to find this bullfrog before he got eaten!

After a bit of weeding, DH spied the guy. He was huge!!! When I picked him up, he filled my hand! And he was perfectly content to sit there - even when I let Pips get a sniff of him...maybe he was in shock, I don't know. Well, anyway, DH put a bit of water in a bucket, and I decided to take him down the street to the creek that runs under our road. He sat very contentedly in that bucket until he heard the sound of the water, then he tried to jump out! His second attempt took him 6 feet into the air and landed him about 3 feet from the water's edge. When I stepped up to him, he took one hop, landed directly into the middle of the creek and sat there like he'd been there all day! It was hilarious! I only wish I had remembered to bring my camera.