SAVE the FROG

Mr. Froggy (IT)


The make-shift bedpan/habitat



Yesterday Lily had a doctors appointment. They needed to take new x-rays of the smushed finger, which is healing nicely by-the-way. We also had swim lessons, and I needed to go to the Ensign Book Store to get some things for Willow's birthday which is coming upon us fast. Anyway it was a fully planned day. I decided that at swim lessons we would shower all the chlorine off there at the Diamond Valley aquatic center so that all we had to do to get ready for the day was dress. While in the shower, Poppy yelled, "There's a frog in my shower!" I go to check it out. Sure enough there's a little tree frog hopping around her drain. Phoenix catches it, and the begging begins. "Please mom, can we keep it? Puh leasssee mooommmmyyyy? It won't be any trouble. I won't let Lily eat it. I'll keep it in my room.....? Please. Please. Please. PLEASE" How can you resist? I actually have quite a soft spot in my heart for little froggies. I think they are one of natures sweetest creatures. So I say yes and we load into the car to go home, ready for the next leg of our day.

You say, but wait I know this isn't all. Yep, not 2 minutes after we get in the car the frog is lost and I am thinking ,"Melissa this has got to be the dumbest thing you've ever done." We search the car when we arrive home, but to no avail. So, already late for the next errand we leave hoping beyond all hope Mr. Froggy escaped the bullet shaped mini-van. We stop at the dry cleaners (be ready today at 4:00). We stop at the gas station to go potty again, and then we get to the mall. We go inside to get some lunch (mmmmm Miguels)and some face cream for mom. After we have shopped and eaten I am nearly sure that I will be smelling a putrid dead animal in my car in a few days. I am pondering how long it will take to go away when I look over at the passenger seat and who do I spy, but Mr. Froggy riding along. When we arrive at Kaiser, I think ,"what am I going to do? It is really hot now and he surely will die if I leave him in the car this time". So I load the children out and MacGyver a shoe box scavenged from the parking lot to carry IT in. We head into Orthopedics and the children are so excited that we found the frog that THEY are jumping all over. While we stand in line to check in, IT escapes and the four of them run off after IT screaming and bouncing. Everyone looks at me. I see the accusatory statements in their eyes. A frog at the hospital, really? Squealing in this place of healing, really? Please keep IT and THEM away from me.

One of the receptionists gets me a plastic bed pan to keep IT in. I take the motley crew outside and in the trash can on the very top is a nice big piece of aluminum foil. I'm all about going green... so I recycle it to make a lid for the bed pan/make-shift frog habitat. Then we put the whole thing back inside the shoe box and it only escaped once more during the X-rays.

When we got home I put IT in a bulk sized ice cream tub with a rock, some water, some dirt, some foliage, and some ants for dinner.

Later that evening I was looking for some info on IT and found that here in my little town of Hemet/ San Jacinto/ Idylwild we have a frog that is endangered. It's called the Mountain Yellow legged Frog and there are less than 200 living in the wild. Let me reassure you Mr. Froggy is not an endangered frog! He isa very common Pacific Tree Frog. I thought you might want to read an article about our endangered froggy (go to the link).

Lily's finger X-ray