Frog Fiasco

I think we may have murdered a frog.

I found this little guy in the garden while searching for squash bug eggs. Actually, I’d seen about seven of these stuck to our sliding glass door last night.

I picked it up and took it to Joe. He was ecstatic.

“A frog! Thank you, thank you!”

His excitement lasted until I told him we couldn’t keep it. His little face crumpled as he asked me why.

“Well, frogs have to eat things that move and there are all kinds of pests and bugs in the garden for them to munch on.”

I told him he could play with it for a little while, but then we’d have to release it back into the garden.

He and Jake took turns holding the frog, petting the frog and talking to the frog.

“Time for lunch boys.”

Joe sadly headed to the garden, dragging his feet the whole way.

Then, he stopped suddenly and spun around.

“I have an idea. Let’s put him in the pond where all his friends are.”

I was so happy that he stopped pouting that I instantly agreed. Not thinking about whether or not it was that kind of frog.

It wasn’t.

It moved its little legs with all its might, but only went a few inches in the deep water.

Joe and Jake didn’t seem to notice that something wasn’t right. Jake kept asking me to find one for him too.

I quickly ushered the boys inside to eat lunch and sat down at the computer to find out what kind of frog it was. Something I should have done before throwing it in the water.

As it turns out, this little guy is, or rather was, tree frog. While tree frogs like to soak and play in water, they are not great swimmers. In other words, they usually stay out of the deep end of the pool so they don’t drown.

Oops.

Poor little tree frog
You never did have a chance
Too much love killed you