As rain falls on Wednesday, I realize that it’s frog story time. I’m pretty fond of frogs, in their place … outside. But have you ever heard of a frog seeking refuge in a house in the midst of a downpour?
And did you know that one person cannot catch a frog in a house?
My friend now knows that. It was the end of June and the evening of the mighty deluge in Brandon. The rain that filled Brandon streets, swept water into every little tributary and into the Assiniboine River.
In a beautiful location near the river, homes were having water rising up in their basements, even sewer water. But not my friend. You see, a downpour is when you find out what being “a little bit higher” than surrounding properties mean.
But she made the mistake of opening her patio door to see if the rain was abating. In a flash, a mature frog (I’m saying, old enough to know better) hopped right into my friend’s home.
Did she shriek? What do you think? And, Froggy hopped right on through the dining area to take up a station under the couch. Oh no!
The homeowner tried moving the couch and did so without harming the frog.
Froggy wasn’t about to be caught though. He kicked out and with a few more fantastic hops Froggy gained asylum under the refrigerator – a warm dark place for an amphibian.
Quickly gathering large towels, the horrified host barricaded the bottom of the fridge so she would at least know where the frog was. She wondered if she was the kind of person that could trap a frog under a fridge all night. She decided she was. It was midnight. How clearly was she thinking?
But, a phone call brought help; because upon hearing of the invading frog, the neighbour couple left their own problems that included sewer water in the bathtub, and, armed with a net they came to the rescue.
The frog was caught and extirpated.
While it seems like a lot of trouble to go to for a frog, it’s nothing compared to what goes on at Ryder Lake, in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. In August the tiny (size of a dime) Western toadlet begins to migrate. Thousands, perhaps millions, make their way across roads there. Earlier this year, vehicle traffic was re-routed to protect this migration that is part of the toadlets life cycle. At one road, a toad tunnel has even been constructed complete with a fence to guide the little hoppers into the tunnel to safely cross.
And that’s a happy ending to the tale of frog and toads.
