Fall Begins

Fall began just a few days ago with a slight cold front, letting us taste a few temperatures in the morning in the 60's last week with a few sprinkles here and there.  That was just a tease though, as since that little break, we are now back in the 100's and haven't seen any more rain. Plants that tried to show us some green are brown again and the grass is just straw.  Nevertheless, that week or so of slightly cooler temperatures and just that little bit of moisture seemed to bring some bugs out.  I clearly wasn't imagining the new bugs as last night, I got to see a frog, a toad, and my big lizard with nice healthy tummies for the first time in months.  So nice to see a nice round-bodied toad!  The lizard, who loves to come up on the porch when the temps are over 100, looked absolutely gorgeous.   When I came out, he predictably ran up the Elm tree in front of the house where he can blend in with the bark while carefully watching me.  I came out and admired him and he granted me a few push-ups.  He was either showing me his virility because he thought me a threat or he was flirting.  I sweet-talked him for a bit and let him be.  I would love to have a lizard as a pet, but would really really hate putting anything this beautiful in a cage.  He seems to have an ideal life.

Today, I was going to fill the water bucket to replenish the pond and saw a small scorpion in the bottom of the bucket.  Normally, all scorpions in my world get killed immediately.  No shortage of these little evil monsters.  But, with the bugs as scarce as they've been, I rethink these decisions now.  Would this scorpion be a good snack?  That stinging tail gave me pause, though.  I would not want a frog to get stung.  So -- I took a pair of pliers and nipped off the stinger.  A drop of poison collected on the stinger as I dropped it in the trash.  Unfortunately, the scorpion seemed not to survive the amputation.  That kind of surprised me, as it seemed pretty minor to just have the end of your tail nipped off.  I guess you can't just nip the evil off some things.  Seemed like such an easy fix, too.

Surprising New Residents and Visitors

A about two weeks ago, there was a big black cricket in the house.  We were in the middle of a terrible heat wave and I saw the cricket and thought: "frog food!"  So I scooped up the cricket into a box and put him outside next to the pond when it started to get dark.  Well, a day or so later, I picked up a rock next to the pond and there was a big cricket.  Couldn't have been the same one, could it have been?  I ignored him.  Since then, I have seen a big black cricket by the pond or on the stairs nearly every day.  I think it must be the same one.  How is this possible?  Granted, this is a big cricket, but if a snake can swallow a frog whole, why wouldn't any of our frogs or toads make a meal out of this guy?  Yesterday, he was nonchalantly crawling on the netting over the pond.  Is he now part of the pond community?  How can this be?? This is not the way we understand nature.  Frogs EAT crickets, they don't share habitat with them peacefully.  Or - do they? Have they discussed the fact that the big visible interfering hand of human brought the cricket here, therefore, he gets a pass?  I wonder how long he will last before being eaten by a frog, toad, bird, snake, etc. ?   Pretty tough cricket.

In vertebrate news, a few days ago, I stepped outside at night to visit the pond and surprised a very rumpled-looking possum on the porch who had been snacking on the veggies and nuts I left for the squirrel.  He waddled away, looking disheveled and a bit bewildered.  He belonged in a cartoon with his very distinctive confused expression, his adorable messy grey hair pointing everywhere and his pathetic little rat tail.  So very cute. I hope he comes back.  The first time I saw a possum, he was curled up on the bottom of my garbage can outside in California.  He looked dead.  I tipped the can over and came back later.  He was gone. He had only been playing possum.  A long time ago, I remember seeing another one on my back porch where I had left a big metal bowl of popcorn.  I had heard an infernal racket and saw a silly possum putting his feet in the bowl, making it tip and clang on the ground as he grabbed a few bits of popcorn. He kept doing this making the same metallic racket over and over.  Clown!

I really really love the diversity of species and personalities we have at the pond.  I feel so privileged in being able to share this world.  Spending time in this world, it is impossible,  I think, not to develop understanding and respect.  I think of long ago when I dissected that frog in high school biology class and thought it was kind of gross, and did not fully appreciate that this was a living breathing creature who could have had a full enjoyable life.  If I had been a child growing up at this pond, I could not have dissected that frog and I would have had to have my mom or dad write some kind of note.  No reason why an artificial frog, with innards, can't be made available to young students.  I understand how you might have to work on the real thing if you were in vet school, but high schoolers? Such a waste of a lovely frog's life.

It is interesting that it took me only two weeks to go from seeing a cricket and thinking "frog food" to thinking of the cricket as a member of the pond community and being something/someone I have some level of concern for.  There is a lesson there. 

Viva La Rana!

Yesterday was diez y seis de septiembre - Mexican Independence Day!   Austin celebrated with a smattering of well-deserved rain.  It rained just a bit, enough to make the ground slightly moist and we are hoping for a little more.   There was no lack of celebration at the pond where the "gritos" were loud and persistent.  I think it was only one frog or toad, but that frog was LOUD!  The shy female leopard frog was there listening and I am not sure if the Mr. was successful with his entreaties.  Oh yes, I forgot to tell you the best news!  The frog I found in the snake's belly was not our little pond girl.  I saw her the day after the snake was killed.  She was sitting next to the St. Martin statue.  She likes it there - that's how I knew it was her.  Totally made my day.  When I saw her and heard the frog call, I thought she was being wooed.  But -- the next day, I actually saw a toad make that exact call.  So the sounds in the video below are of a toad.  Do toads woo frogs??  I have no idea!

Oh, and if you aren't familiar with a  "grito", it is a loud yell, usually with some good long fancy yodeling thrown in.   "The" Grito, or the "Grito de Independencia" or "Grito de Delores" refers to the revolutionary yell by Father Hidalgo that started the Mexican War for Independence in 1810 in the town of Delores.  On diez y seis, the air is filled with gritos in Mexico!
http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/diezyseis.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grito_de_Dolores

I bet you want to hear some frog toad songs of love?  This is a video I took of the pond.  Yes, I took it without turning on any lights because I did not want to disturb our singer, so the beginning is just song.   Later in the video, I turn on the flashlight to look for the singer and to see the young lady leopard frog sitting in the grotto. The sounds you hear are the calls of a Gulf Coast Toad. I watched him the next night.  His throat bubbled up as he sang.  So cool.

In other good news, I saw yet another small toad, this one only about the size of a half dollar!  So cute. Seeing toads makes me hopeful that we will indeed have some more rain.  I haven't seen Ulysses yet, or any other full grown toads, for that matter.   I do miss Ulysses and can only hope that he is somewhere safe and sound and that he will come back to me someday before we move from Texas. 

Little Toad! 

The War Hasn't Ended. Killer Killed, But Not Soon Enough.

This morning I brought out a five gallon bottle of water to replenish the pond.  As I poured, I noticed the familiar checkered pattern nestled in the plants next to the rocks that formed the sides of the pond.  Quietly, I went for my tongs and gloves.  As I got closer, I realized that this snake was big, too big for me to just grab without risking getting bitten.

I reached for the spade.  I pressed the spade into the thick part of the snake that was visible - I wasn't sure where it was on the snakes body and I wasn't sure if I was actually killing it, but I could see its tail whip as I pressed as hard as I could against the spade.   I realized that I really wasn't getting anywhere and was probably just causing pain, so I ran inside and asked my husband for some help.  He came out, grasped the handle of the spade and applied more force to the snake's body.  After awhile, he lifted the snake out of the garden and into a bucket.

Looking at the snake, I noticed that it still moved, its tongue still flicked and mouth still opened.  I also saw that it had a large lump in its middle - it had just eaten. I dumped the snake out of the bucket onto some firm ground and struck with the spade several times so that the head was cleanly severed from the body.

I looked at the snake.  And at the bulge.  I ran inside and grabbed my kitchen shears.  (Yes, the nice Kitchen Aide ones I use for cutting up chickens and such.)  Cutting down from the incision on the neck, I found the snake's skin to be surprisingly tough.  When I got to the bulge, I was very careful, but found a very dead young leopard frog.  The frog was kind of smashed.  If the poor frog was alive, I certainly killed it when killing the snake.  I so hoped that this wasn't the sole leopard frog who had been hanging out in the pond every night, the frog I saw early this morning on the porch and said good morning to as she seemed to go hopping off to work.  It probably was.  I buried her in the garden and said a few words.

Toad In The Coal??

Saw another young toad this morning.  He was just about an inch and a half long, which means he managed to survive through this heatwave as a baby toad.   I find that amazing.  But we know that toads and frogs burrow into the earth and hibernate when things get tough.  With this drought and heatwave lasting so long, I wondered how much longer our little frogs and toads could last.  Then today, my husband mentioned a story he had read about a live frog being discovered encased in a lump of coal.   "Impossible", I thought.   Then I looked it up.   Apparently, there have been a fair number of reported findings of live frogs and toads found in geodes, lumps of coal and petrified stumps over the course of the past few centuries.  Most scientists have scoffed at the phenomena, although there have been reports all over the world that are startlingly similar in describing a mucous coat on the mouth and very slow vitals.  Can a toad slow his breathing and function so dramatically that they can actually be encased in coal or rock until released??  Scientists say it is impossible.  But who knows how long toads can stay underground? 

http://www.aquiziam.com/unexplained-phenomenon.html

If all this sounds vaguely familiar to you, you might be thinking of  "Toad in the Hole", an English recipe featuring sausages baked in Yorkshire pudding.  I will not mention this recipe to any of the inhabitants of the pond.

Fire

It was pretty scary around the pond for the last few days.  Labor day weekend started ominously with fierce dry winds.  Then later, inevitably, fires raged in two areas close enough to us to fill our skies with billowing smoke and ash while the news started streaming in regarding catastrophic losses in other areas of central Texas.  We called the county emergency services periodically to get news of the fire to see whether it might be necessary for us to flee.  Thankfully, once the weekend was over, the winds died down and the temps dropped a bit in the evening.  Nevertheless, in Bastrop, just east of Austin, almost 1500 homes were destroyed and over 25 square miles of land, including two State parks.  In Austin, a pricey subdivision lost more than 25 homes. In Leander and Cedar Park, two cities north of Austin, more houses were destroyed.  The two fires near us, one in Pedernales Bend and one near Hamilton Pool road, more homes were lost but the fires are finally under control, as is the central Austin fire.  Only the Bastrop remains dangerous, although it appears to be somewhat contained and they have begun to let some people back into the area.

With the drop in evening temperatures, we have seen more birds and this little one popped into the pond.

This is probably the youngest toad I've seen in the pond. She has been hanging out in the mornings and evenings, while the shy young leopard frog still comes by in the evening.

Everyone is talking about the devastation to human homes, but I can't help mourning the loss of all the critter habitat.  With this drought, there just is no water.  Poor frogs, snakes and toads.  This drought could have repercussions for generations to come.

Perhaps We Need To Hold A Frog Wedding To End This Drought

 Frog weddings are held in East Asian countries to bring an end to drought conditions.  We are in bad shape here in Texas.  I would be more than willing to host a wedding here at the pond.  Wouldn't that be fun?!

(The pictures here do not necessarily match the stories.  I lifted these pictures from the internet from other East Asian frog nuptials and apologize for any copyright infringements).

 
Video explaining the tradition with some beautiful footage:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO-NgYU6ldA

 

From an article in Earthweek, July 2, 2010

"Religious leaders in India’s holy city of Varanasi have attempted to jump-start the delayed monsoon season by resorting to the mythical marriage of frogs in a desperate attempt to please the rain gods.

“This is an age-old tradition that if frogs are wedded, then Indra Dev will be pleased and monsoon will come,” organizer Munna Lal Yadav told reporters.

During one of several such marriages conducted across India’s oldest city, a priest officiated the Batrachian nuptials to the chanting of hymns from the Hindu scriptures.

Vermilion was also applied to the forehead of the female frog. Temperatures continued to soar to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with no rain during the first few days of amphibious bliss.

But rain chances had increased to 40 percent within a week's time, according to meteorologists."

From a 2009 Article in Thandian News:

 Frogs married in drought-hit Jharkhand to please rain god

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Ranchi, July 23 (IANS) Beautiful invitation cards, a feast for nearly 500 guests, a car for the groom and chanting of Sanskrit verses — although all the usual customs were observed, this was an Indian wedding with a difference. Those tying the knot at the special event in Jharkhand’s Chatra district were frogs.
Desperate residents of Simeria block in the drought-hit district, about 190 km from here, organised a wedding of frogs Wednesday to appease the rain gods.

“We believe that the rain god is appeased by the marriage of frogs. Now that the ceremony has been performed, we hope that the district, which has been facing droughts for the last four years, will get good rainfall,” said Vinod Bihari, a priest who conducted the marriage ceremony.

Seva Ram, a farmer, “adopted” the female frog and performed the ritual of ‘kanyadan’.
“I will keep both frogs in my house. It is my duty to feed them as I did the kanyadan of the female frog. We hope the marriage will end our woes,” he said.  After the wedding, sweets were distributed, people blessed the newly-wed couple and prayed to god for rainfall.

Jharkhand has declared four districts — Chatra, Palamau, Lathear and Garwah — drought hit.
The affected districts have received rainfall of less than 100 mm so far this monsoon. As a result, the paddy crop has been badly hit.

Lizards!

The drought and the heat wave kicked it up a notch the past few days.  On Sunday, it was 112 degrees, matching the highest temperature ever in Austin. Monday was 110.  On the news last night, it was reported that August was the hottest month ever in Austin and this is the hottest summer in history.

With the frogs and toads in hiding from the heat, lizards have taken center stage. Much more adapted to heat, they seem to be most active in the middle of the day and are often visible clinging to the side of the house or trees.  Texas has some beautiful lizards.   The main lizard we have around here is the Texas Spiny Lizard.  They are gorgeous!  I don't think they actually have spines, but their scales do come out a bit so they have a a little punkish flair.  While I have always seen them scurrying around, this week I have taken the time to notice them and one in particular has taken the time to get a little friendly.

This guy has decided to hang out on the porch next to the recycling bin every day.  He seems mildly interested in me and he investigated the few bits of chopped frozen vegetables I scattered for the squirrel.  I looked up what lizards ate and various people said they fed their lizards lettuce. When I looked up Texas Spiny Lizards, however, sources said they ate insects.  Well, this guys seems to like both.  Good for omnivore lizards!
 
I also discovered that lizards will do a little pushups to show their strength and virility.  One article says that when two lizards meet up, they will do this in a show of strength in competition until one of the lizards gives up, without a fight. Californiaherps.com, a very informative website about lizards, calls it a "territorial display".  "This display shows off the bright coloring on their throats and sides, if they have it, and shows that they are in prime physical condition, and not to be messed with. Females also do push-ups."

I actually saw the little push up show this week on the porch step. Although I did not see another lizard, my porch visitor did his little funky rhythmic push up in a perfect 4/4 beat.  I pictured him in a music video - he was that good. Awesome, even.  Maybe there wasn't another male around.  Maybe he just felt the urge to dance. 

The squirrel has very much enjoyed the ice water, peanuts and veggies I have been putting out for him or her on the big flat rock.  A couple of always-greedy deer came up, very interested in what was on the rock, having stolen lots of treats from there in the past.  They saw the squirrel, though, backed up and did not interfere.  I guess squirrels are higher up in pack order than deer.  Who knew?


For the past week, a solitary leopard frog has cautiously used the pond, but has been really shy with me.  I found him at about ten o'clock at night, sitting by the statute of St. Martin de Porres that overlooks the pond from the porch steps. I love how his eyes glow! My little phone camera can't really even focus on him with his glowing eyes.  I like how he decided to take refuge alongside this animal-loving saint.





I can tell the heat is breaking and that some moisture is imminent because two small toads were in the pond along with the leopard frog last night, which means they had some reason to come out of hibernation.  This morning was actually pleasant so I hope this means the weather may change a bit.









This is just one adorable lizard.  I think he likes me.