Frog Update

If you read my previous post, we've had frogs in the pool. Not just one or two - 20! at a time. Some of them have laid eggs in the pool. I keep scooping out frogs and eggs. If I don't scoop them out quickly, the chlorine kills them. I'd much rather scoop out live frogs than dead ones. Except the live ones are very lively, and often jump out of the scooper net and land on rocks, or, right back in the water. Very athletic, these froggies!

Anyway! We also have desert toads out here in the wild west. They hibernate all year, and come out only during monsoon season, which is now.

I found this one in the pool, sitting on the steps. He was HUGE. Not as big as a dinner plate, but almost.

I scooped him out very carefully (thought he was going to break my net) and lowered him to the other side of the fence.

Sad to report, he didn't make it.

:0(

By the way, desert toads are poisonous. If your dog licks it, he will die. If YOU lick one, you will hallucinate. The Native Americans used to use them in ceremonies.

You have to be very careful letting your dogs out at night. Put on all the lights, and carry a flashlight, and monitor them really closely.

Anyway, I much prefer these little guys.

Frogs in the Pool!!!

It's monsoon season - all of a sudden - here in Tucson Arizona. Monsoons are huge thunderstorms, and can be torrential, with very damaging winds, thunder and lightning. The dry riverbeds and washes can flood, very quickly.

Monsoon season brings out all kinds of critters.

There's the poisonous desert toad. They are bigger than a man's hand, and whatever you do - DON'T let your dog near them. If your dog licks them, they can die. If YOU lick them, you can hallucinate.

Tarantulas. I haven't seen any yet. Any day now.....

Scorpions. Black widow spiders. Snakes. Don't I just love living here?

BUT, today, we have new visitors.

Frogs.

In the pool.

TONS of them.

What am I going to do with them??

I need to turn on the filter, so the pool can get cleaned. There's quite a bit of debris after last night's storm. But can I? Will the filter scoop up all the froggies?

And, where did they come from? Did they drop from the sky during the storm? Some of them like hanging out in the filter bucket ---

And some of them like getting piggyback rides on each other. Hmmm. What ARE they doing?

And what am I going to do to keep them from swimming in my pool all summer??