The accidental froggery

I never planned on creating a gathering place for frogs, known as a froggery. But I did nevertheless.

It started with a simple fountain on my back patio, which I set up in a pot to hear the sound of water. I added some water plants for variety.

One day, as I was adding fresh water to the pot, and letting it overflow onto the concrete, what should come falling out but a dozen or so pollywogs!

Grabbing a stiff piece of poster board, I scooped them up and put them back. I was happy about the frogs because we use no pesticides or other poisons in or around our house (other than something we had to do about ants around the foundation), and I know that frogs are super sensitive and will only thrive where conditions are fairly pure.

Then I got to thinking: What happens when these little fellows grow legs and jump out of the pot onto the concrete? They won't be able to jump back in and will perish. So I went down to Home Depot and got a molded pond, sunk it into a nearby planter bed, and used a tropical fish net to move the pollywogs to their new home.

They grew nicely, turned into frogs, and come back each spring to lay more eggs. Now I have two frog hatcheries, as I now see eggs in a small pot I set out for the birds. Each night, one frog from each station calls out and the other responds. It's like in old-time movies where women hanging laundry talk over the backyard fence.

Click here to listen in.