Most of my Frog Stories are inspired by
real events involving my various pet amphibians. As a sort of
web-exclusive extra, I will share a few more stories about my
critters. While my book contains comics, I have composed the extra
stories in prose, with a few illustrations.
Horned Frog Gymnastics
Once, Bud (the Argentine horned frog)
spied a juicy, mouthwatering earthworm before him. He lunged for it
and missed. The worm crawled into a hole. Bud dove in with jaws
agape. And found himself doing a head-stand. He kept in place for a
few minutes, perhaps baffled by the predicament. By the time he regained his footing, the worm had escaped.
Flash versus Metallica
We introduced Flash (the firebellied
toad) to join my two green tree frogs in a 15-gallon terrarium, and
thought that the three would be friends. Characteristic of his
breed, Flash took to the water dish. He swam about using the
classic frog kick, floated with eyes above water and body submerged, stood on the stones, and
didn't venture far from the “pond.” Meanwhile, the tree frogs dwelt mainly
on the leafy plants or affixed to the glass walls, above the ground.
Then Hoppy the tree frog clambered down from his perch and to
the edge of the water, in search of a cool bath. And
we heard a sound. HREF HREF HREF HREF—surprisingly high and loud.
I took a closer look and listen, and found that the barking came from
Flash. And then he climbed atop a rock in the pond, and glared down
at the intruder. Hoppy, unconcerned, proceeded to the water. And Flash
leapt towards him! Hoppy jumped away, back into the foliage. The amphibians might not be so compatible. Later, we found Flash and Hoppy
together, with the former's jaws clamped forcefully around the
latter's foot. And so, I reached my hand--giant by frog standards--into the cage. Both animals jumped away, in different directions. Obviously, Flash needed a
separate enclosure.
After becoming a lone toad, Flash found a new motivation to burn his territorial fire. Any time I set my
boombox to heavy metal, Flash responded. HREF HREF HREF HREF! He
heard the challenge and answered forcefully. And he had no fear
about pitting his lone voice against the fearsome combination of
vocals, guitars, and drums. My mom joked that it was a sing-along
among angry young males. With his barking and posturing, Flash
looked quite the intimidator, for a critter only two inches long.
Were I a frog, I would keep my distance.
