Well yesterday I took Froggie's bowl out to the deck to warm in the morning sun. I had taken him in the night before at Dave's urging because it was going to be cold, in the 30's and after all Dave said "He is an African frog." So I brought him in but I couldn't see him as he must have been hiding in the pagoda I put in the day before thinking he needed somewhere to get out of the sun. I don't know if African frogs are subject to sunburn but the sun at this altitude is very strong. The pagoda is tall and actually rises a couple of inches above the water line. It takes up a lot of his swimming room which had I enjoyed watching when he seemed to be taking exercise. I am going to have to get him a bigger bowl. Anyway when I looked for him in the light on the deck I could not see him. I pulled out the pagoda and looked in the bowl, nada, just the blue and clear smooth glass stones that rested on the bottom. I looked in the hollow of the faux-stone pagoda, to my shock he was nowhere to be found. I called to Dave in alarm. "Dave, Froggie is gone!" Immediately I thought a predator, probably a bird, plucked him out of the bowl while we were out for an evening walk. Probably when I had moved the bowl inside he was not there because I hadn't actually laid eyes on him the night before or while he was in the house due to that pagoda. We had bought him at a pet store last fall and he was quite tiny. I had had one when the boys were little who was big enough to eat mosquitoes and even houseflies we'd caught in the house to my great satisfaction. His underwater singing used to keep Ned awake he had complained as a 4 year old. So there was a certain nostalgia that came with Froggie though he payed no attention to any fresh delicacies I put in his bowl and lived on the desiccated frog food the man at the shop rightfully urged me to buy. But now he was gone. Froggie we hardly knew you. Being a writer I was already composing his obituary but Dave had quickly roused from his computer, dressed and though I tried to explain what I had imagined happened he was down on the ground under our second floor deck looking in the gravel. What is he doing? I thought. Had Froggie escaped via climbing on top of his pagoda , hopping as frogs are wont to do out of the confines of his too small bowl, free at last, free at last! Off on a grand adventure. Strains of "Froggie Went a'Courtin'" hummed in my ear while Dave, still searching the ground beneath our deck, said he couldn't have lasted long down here if a robin had seen him. A murderous robin guiltily looked down from a tree. I looked down in sadness thinking what a waste of his little life when I spied something flailing in the grass beneath me. I was delighted to see little Froggie all two of his inches extended in effort as he is not a land creature. Had he fallen a few inches further he'd have hit the road and been squished by the vehicles that come and go. But Froggie was a survivor. "Dave, There he is! Can you believe it!" Dave scooped him up and soon he was returned to his pagoda-less bowl where he has been resting quietly indoors on the kitchen counter ever since where I can keep an eye on him after his big mystery adventure because we still don't know how he ended up in the yard beneath the deck.
Today I went to the IFA store for some plants and a look around inside. I like to look at the baby chicks and cowgirl boots. Lots of things marked down due to the change in season. I then went to Tractor Supply to look at their plants and their baby chicks. I found a kit for growing Venus Fly Traps which is a plant that eats meat, like flies. i have to grow them from seed but I am so glad to have found the kit which included a tiny plastic frog. I put it next to Froggie's bowl and he seems pretty interested in his new found friend. Dave and I went for a walk tonight and i noticed the moon is extra large but it is not full yet. I hope Froggie doesn't try to hop out of his bowl again. Pet care can be so exhausting.
I put the plastic frog in the bowl to see what Froggie would do but as I suspected he was too lightweight and went belly up. Not a very convincing playmate for Froggie. The next time we go north to a pet shop in Provo we will bring back a friend for Froggie. We may even get a tank for him. Planted the Venus Fly Trap seeds. They take 6 weeks to germinate. Can't wait to see one chomp on a fly.
In case you think me cruel to flies just remember that Ole Beezelbub ist ein Fliegen!
Continuation June 22, 2020
So on our trip north to celebrate father's day with Ned and Sarah we stopped at Petco in Spanish Fork in hopes of bringing home a friend for Froggie. Once i got a salesperson to help he showed me the one Dwarf Frog left. Apparently they keep selling out because on our last trip north we called 2 Pet store chains and they were all out. The associate who helped me asked if I had a filter and I said no. He suggested I get one especially if i was going to have 2 because without it they would slowly drown being unable to get air from the dirty water. He suggested a good one for my size tank. I hastly got their last frog and the filter and we were on our way.
I had a small carrier to keep him/her in. Somehow i had thought of Froggie as a male in need of female companionship and so the new acquisition being so pale in color and about half the size of Froggie became in my thinking a female which I named Gorfetta, This was a concession to Dave who called our first frog "Gorf" for frog spelled backwards and i feminized the name a tad. I decided to just put their tanks side by side for a while untill I cleaned the 10 gallon tank that was rather large for one lonely Froggie and it seemed they were seeing or hearing each other and sidling up to the tank side nearest each other. This comforted me because i had a terrible dream in which the larger frog swallwed the newcomer in one gulp.
So in the morning I determined to clean the big tank and start fresh with the new filter and the newcomer frog who looked like a juvenile next to Froggie senior. The moment of truth had come so we scooped up Froggie with a little net and he gave us a run for our money and it took many tries to finally catch him and transfer into the small temporary tank with Gorfetta. Once in the small container I watched closely for any sign of aggression from Froggie. To my surprise the smaller frog seemed more curious and actually came close to the larger. I went to get my camera and when i came back I was surpised again to see the little new guy mounted on the back of the larger who did not seem offended and they stayed that way for a while as i went to tell Dave who had fallen asleep but i was so amazed at this turn events i woke him with the news that Froggie was a female and the new frog was the male! Right away I started rethinking names. Froggie was renamed Gina and the new frog was named Frank.
Time will tell if we got it right. There is so much to learn in the reptilian kingdom.
So that's how i became a frog grandparent(maybe) with a 10 gallon tank to keep clean and frogs that are not to be fed flies or mosquitoes which was my original motivation. Maybe i can parlay this into a profit making business since the stores seem to have a shortage of Dwarf frogs. I wonder what happens to them. i hope they don't use them for fights like Bettas. Not cool!
I do find fly swatters give a lot of satisfaction and my Venus Fly Traps are hopefully going to give a lot of entertainment too even though it has been 7 weeks and no sign of germination..
So to sum up the Re-contextualization that Bruce Springsteen has spoken of in relation to the old song "Froggie Went a Courtin'"
It seems like Frank is the one who went a courtin and he was very quick at it. Now they seem to be hanging out at opposite ends of the tank and I'm hoping Gina isn't mad at me to inflicting a tormenter on her previously solitary life. The saga continues...
Update on Froggie alias Frogina or Gina for short...June 29
OK, sad news. It is with deep sadness that I must report Frank was discovered lifeless on the bottom of the tank. Gina was nearby and I feel she was sad to lose her new friend who had not been with us a week. I am once again perplexed and I wish I knew an African (Dwarf)Frog expert who could explain what caused his early demise.
Frank was hanging out near the filter with his nose out of the water for the last day or two. I am struggling with the guilt of having failed this helpless little creature. It is ironic because Gina our longtime Froggie lived in a much smaller bowl for the better part of a year with water I seldom changed. I was worried about contaminating our sink or toilet with salmonella so i let Froggie stew in his own juices way too long. i even tried to give him away to other families but they turned down the idea. I think the lockdown made me a little obsessive about Froggie. But we will probably be making another trip north to get another friend for Frogina.
Of course the thought has crossed my mind that she done him in but that is another story. Of course I am watching her closely.
There is a book on the care and raising of African Dwarf frogs on order. Until then I would be very glad to hear drom anyone who has experience with these little underwater frogs. chrisnfun@yahoo.com
https://genius.com/Bruce-springsteen-froggie-went-a-courtin-lyricshttps://genius.com/Bruce-springsteen-froggie-went-a-courtin-lyrics
