Austin is still suffering from this horrible drought, but we had some very exciting drizzle this morning and an actual short downpour (that lasted maybe 30 seconds). We might have some more coming so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Do frogs have fingers? Why yes they do! Looking for some bit of information on whether there is a special name for a frog's hand, I found the following that was disconcertingly placed on an unnamed/unlabeled "dissection worksheet" that must have been for some poor high school kid's biology class : "To determine the frog’s sex, look at the hand digits, or fingers, on its forelegs. A male frog usually has thick pads on its "thumbs," which is one external difference between the sexes. Male frogs are also usually smaller than female frogs." So, not only did I learn that frogs and people both have hands, fingers and even thumbs, I found out that I can perhaps tell males and females from their thumbs. Also found out that a frog has four fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot!
Last night, the pond was graced with 3 small toads and one pretty Leopard frog. Every time I come out to visit at night, I hear a "plop" or two as I come out, which is the sound of a frog diving for cover. The toads only leave or dive, though, when I annoy them by getting too close or trying to take too many pictures with flash bulbs. Normally, they will just hang out with me. Whether they are curious or lazy or just don't care? -- who know? I do like their attitudes, though. This guy let me get pretty up close and personal before he dived down, annoyed at the flash.
The little guy below just stayed put, trying to pretend I wasn't there.
We had a bit of excitement last week with the possum. Since the first time I saw him, I saw him a couple of more times next to the pond and I thought that he was just hanging out looking for bugs and plants to eat. Researching, however, I found that possums eat snakes and frogs. So Mr. Possum is no longer welcome. I made that fact perfectly clear to him when I found him scrounging in the garden at night. I yelled at him and told him he needed to leave. Mr. clueless possum then waddled up stairs to porch and then huddled by the front door as I scolded him. He showed me his teeth in a very harmless way and just huddled there, with fleas crawling all over his poor little face. With the handle of a shovel, I nudged him back and asked him to turn around and leave. He would not. I finally just had to push the poor thing off the porch, while telling him sternly that he was not ever to come back. He didn't like that one bit and hasn't shown up since.
My lizard boyfriend has been visiting frequently, however. He has been regularly coming onto the porch where I say hello to him every day, usually sometime between 2 and 4 pm. Last night, I started a new job and wasn't home until 7:00 pm. When I came home, I found him on the porch where he seemed to be waiting for me. He stayed there and we chatted (ok, well, he listed to me talk to him) and I threw out some frozen corn for him. He didn't eat the corn while I was there, but I left him alone and when I came back, the corn was gone. I really really like that lizard. He lost his tail a couple of days ago and looks a little pathetic, but I don't dare tell him. I only tell him how handsome I think he is. I think his name needs to be Hercules, as he wants me to be very impressed by his push ups and feats of lizard strength and as I tell him, he is extremely handsome. If I leave Texas, I will miss him very much.
Living in unison with wildlife is hard. You learn to simply accept the departures of your friends. Life is so precious and can be so very temporary. I haven't seen the wise giant toad Ulysses in a long time and have no idea whether he has found a better home or whether he was eaten by some hawk or possum. It is hard to accept that one day, you could be enjoying a laugh with a beautiful creature who has come to be your friend and the next day, that friend has gone, maybe to come back and maybe never to be seen again. You just don't know. You can't control it, no matter how hard you try. Nature is tough.
Oh -- speaking of creatures I was sure should have departed by this time, that damn frog-loving cricket showed up again yesterday. He is certainly walking the tightrope of life!
Last night, the pond was graced with 3 small toads and one pretty Leopard frog. Every time I come out to visit at night, I hear a "plop" or two as I come out, which is the sound of a frog diving for cover. The toads only leave or dive, though, when I annoy them by getting too close or trying to take too many pictures with flash bulbs. Normally, they will just hang out with me. Whether they are curious or lazy or just don't care? -- who know? I do like their attitudes, though. This guy let me get pretty up close and personal before he dived down, annoyed at the flash.
The little guy below just stayed put, trying to pretend I wasn't there.
We had a bit of excitement last week with the possum. Since the first time I saw him, I saw him a couple of more times next to the pond and I thought that he was just hanging out looking for bugs and plants to eat. Researching, however, I found that possums eat snakes and frogs. So Mr. Possum is no longer welcome. I made that fact perfectly clear to him when I found him scrounging in the garden at night. I yelled at him and told him he needed to leave. Mr. clueless possum then waddled up stairs to porch and then huddled by the front door as I scolded him. He showed me his teeth in a very harmless way and just huddled there, with fleas crawling all over his poor little face. With the handle of a shovel, I nudged him back and asked him to turn around and leave. He would not. I finally just had to push the poor thing off the porch, while telling him sternly that he was not ever to come back. He didn't like that one bit and hasn't shown up since.
My lizard boyfriend has been visiting frequently, however. He has been regularly coming onto the porch where I say hello to him every day, usually sometime between 2 and 4 pm. Last night, I started a new job and wasn't home until 7:00 pm. When I came home, I found him on the porch where he seemed to be waiting for me. He stayed there and we chatted (ok, well, he listed to me talk to him) and I threw out some frozen corn for him. He didn't eat the corn while I was there, but I left him alone and when I came back, the corn was gone. I really really like that lizard. He lost his tail a couple of days ago and looks a little pathetic, but I don't dare tell him. I only tell him how handsome I think he is. I think his name needs to be Hercules, as he wants me to be very impressed by his push ups and feats of lizard strength and as I tell him, he is extremely handsome. If I leave Texas, I will miss him very much. |
| Baby Praying Mantis next to our front door! |
Living in unison with wildlife is hard. You learn to simply accept the departures of your friends. Life is so precious and can be so very temporary. I haven't seen the wise giant toad Ulysses in a long time and have no idea whether he has found a better home or whether he was eaten by some hawk or possum. It is hard to accept that one day, you could be enjoying a laugh with a beautiful creature who has come to be your friend and the next day, that friend has gone, maybe to come back and maybe never to be seen again. You just don't know. You can't control it, no matter how hard you try. Nature is tough.
Oh -- speaking of creatures I was sure should have departed by this time, that damn frog-loving cricket showed up again yesterday. He is certainly walking the tightrope of life!
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