The other night Marian and I drove to Krispy Kreme in Delta, because we have problems, and on the way back it started pouring. I was determined not to miss the Knight St. Exit, which I always somehow do, but when we found it we got turned around anyway by not getting immediately onto Bridgeport and continuing, instead, along River Road.
I pulled into a driveway beside the mill down there, to go back the way we'd come, and right next to my car on the wet asphalt was this giant frog. It was the size of my dog's head, I swear to god, and greenish-gray, and sitting perfectly still despite my car almost squashing it. I'd have taken a picture but my camera battery was at home, charging, so we got out of the car for a closer look.
It looked like a toy, it was so still, and it didn't move until we were crouched down right in front of it. Then it hopped spazzily away from us, under the car and out the other side. Happy was in the backseat and jumped at the window when she saw it move. On the other side of the car it almost collided with Marian on its way to the tall grass and the ditch, where it presumably lives, and we lost sight of it.
Driving home again, we were both charmed by the encounter. Frogs are disappearing all over the place, so it's good to see one unexpectedly, blah-blah-blah, although I kept calling it a toad because I have more experience with toads (Bridge Lake, up north) and it seemed too massive to be anything else.
At home I googled it and realized it was a bullfrog. Yay. But no! Bullfrogs, it turns out, are ecological villains. They take over the territory of smaller, native frogs and shove (or wrestle?!) them out of it, and spread like (hoppy, spazzy) wildfire. They can be up to 20 cm in length, not including the legs, which is insane but seems about right to me. Our frog was maybe 15 cm from head to butt. The legs are longer than that.
In short, all that is green is not green. There are giant frogs. And we must fear them.
It was still charming though.
Oh Kermy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Rubbut
Rubbut
Rubbut
I don't think frogs even say ribbit. It's more like...unghungh, engungh, isn't it?
Errrrrrok. Errrrrok. ?
I don't where they got "ribbit" in the first place, really.
We have bullfrogs at my cottage. they are amazing creatures. Did it have two massive circles (ears) on the sides of its face?
When I was a kid I would catch them and carry them around all day.
I've heard a few convincing ribbits, but yeah mainly not.
I love that frog, even if he is an ecological terrorist.
Now that is a good story. For parties. Or something. :D?
A friend and I once captured one such ecological villain... but her dad made us re-release him into the pond. He'd probably bullied all the little frogs out aready... he was BULL frog, afterall, right? Right? :D?
*crickets*
One night while on vacation in Hawaii, my father let me drive around a quiet, wide road (I was only 15). A massive rainstorm had just passed through which drove the frogs (toads?) out of their homes (I suppose in search of worms). They were everywhere! And so massive...the size of pomelos. They were also so brave. Nothing made them hop away. That would probably explain why there were so many squashed ones on the highway.
Interestingly, and totally off topic, that was my dad's first real taste of a shift in power in our relationship. He started going on about how losing his temper was the only way to get through to us (as small children). I told him he was wrong (a first), and accelerated significantly, all the while humming the Indiana Jones theme.
Kim - I didn't notice the circles. I used to love finding toads and carrying them around as a kid, but I can't imagine picking that frog up. It was too kitten-sized. Like a bald, swollen, wrong sort of kitten, with problems.
Narns - I love him too. Bad baby.
Jess - I almost made that joke in my post. But the crickets stopped me.
Kimi - What are pomelos? I hate the idea of driving over a frog/toad. Even a dead one. Especially a giant dead one that's already squashed. Quite apart from mourning the toad/frog, which of course I would, that shit sounds nasty.
(I can't remember the Indiana Jones theme right now, for the life of me. I keep thinking of Star Wars instead. Rrrrgh.)
I can never resist a tasteless joke... crickets regardless. ;D
A pomelo looks like it once was an insecure grapefruit (smaller than all the rest/picked last for dodgeball) who remedied the situation by injesting copious amounts of steriods to make him Big and Strong (and picked first for dodgeball, if only out of fear that he would kick your ass if you did otherwise).
We used to find giant frogs or bull frogs in the ditch behind our house. They could have eaten my head if they wanted to! And they wanted to!
Also, in japanese, the sound that frogs make is "keropi".
Whoa. The origin of Keroppi is finally explained, once and for all.
Post a Comment