Author Archives: Susan

09/30/09

Slow down: Toads Crossing!

Traveling with my family, we’ve come across some interesting animal crossing signs. In New Hampshire, we’ve seen moose crossing signs, in Florida, we’ve seen turtle crossing signs, and in South Africa, we’ve seen baboon crossing signs:

moose turtle images

If you live in England, however, you may see toad crossing signs at hundreds of different locations:

toad-crossing-sign

The Telegraph (UK) reports that from January through May, Britain’s toads will get increased protection from the Department for Transport with migratory toad crossing signs. Britain’s toads, especially the European Common Toad and the Natterjack toad, are under threat. Toads are considered a “biodiversity priority species.”

According to the Toad Crossing site, local volunteers are part of a national campaign called “Toads on Roads,” coordinated by the wildlife charity Froglife and supported by Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK, a national network of volunteer groups concerned with amphibian and reptile conservation. Volunteers wear bright jackets and help toads across the UK’s roads, in an effort to help save the animal from further declines.

I’m sure Mr. Toad would approve. On the other hand, he was a pretty crazy driver!

09/26/09

Fanged Frogs in the Land of the Lost

No, the fanged frogs are not THE FROG PRINCESS meets TWILIGHT! They are recently discovered amphibians, found with many amazing other animals, in an untouched jungle in a crater of Mount Bosavi in Papua New Guinea. It does seem incredible that such a pristine place still exists on Earth.

The Guardian (UK) reports that in addition to a fanged frog, they discovered:

  • an additional 16 new frogs species
  • giant monitor lizards
  • a grunting fish that makes noises from its swim bladder
  • kangaroos that live in trees
  • a giant rat the size of a large cat that may turn out to be the largest rat in the world
  • the never-before seen Bosavi silky cuscus, a marsupial that has no fear of humans and sat on one of the scientist’s shoulders

The rainforest in Papua New Guinea is disappearing at the rate of 3.5% per year, so these discoveries remind us of how important it is to preserve these incredibly biodiverse habitats. In fact, soon after this news was reported, the World Wildlife Fund reported the discovery of another fanged frog (this one eats birds!) in the Mekong river delta in Southeast Asia. This MSNBC article has a picture of the fanged frog and a slideshow of the other animals.

Below you can see some of these remarkable animals in a video from the Guardian about the Papua New Guinea expedition, led by an international team of scientists, cavers, and filmmakers. On the BBC Natural History Unit site, you can meet the explorers, see a map of where the expedition traveled, read some wild stories about the expedition, and see some episodes online (if you’re in the UK).

09/21/09

Teachers: Calling All Frog Artists!

Susan and I are seeking kids’ frog art—lots of it! We hope to encourage kids and their teachers to learn about and get interested in frogs, toads, and other amphibians. If you’re an elementary school teacher, parent, or educator, please send us jpegs (2mb maximum size) of your students’ or kids’ drawings or paintings of frogs and we will display them in school group galleries on the FROGS ARE GREEN blog. We’d be happy to receive images of any art form—sculpture, drawing, painting, or watercolor.

If the art work is part of a school project, please send the jpegs in one bunch. Individual drawings not part of a class project are fine, too. Include the name of your school, state, country (if not the U.S.), grade level, and child’s name for each piece of art.

Please print out the attached flyer to post in your neighborhood schools.

Here are some ways in which learning about and drawing frogs could be incorporated into the school curriculum:

Art classes

Language arts. As we’ve posted before, there so many wonderful children’s books with frog characters. Click on Literary Frogs on the right to see a few. I plan to review more titles in the coming weeks.

Rainforest unit: Rainforest frogs are some of the most colorful and interesting animals in the rainforest.

Endangered animals: Almost one-third of all amphibians are threatened with extinction, yet most kids probably don’t know this. Pick an endangered frog or toad and learn about it.

Local flora and fauna: Learn about the frogs and other amphibians in your area, and also learn to recognize their calls.

Life cycle of animals: Many state science education standards require children to learn about the life cycle of animals. Frogs have one of the most interesting life cycles—from tadpole to froglet to frog.

Below I’ve posted two YouTube videos about how to draw a frog. One is simple line drawing, and the other is more detailed, for older kids.

09/18/09

A Place in the Choir for the Houston Toad

Maybe it’s because my choir rehearsals begin tonight, but I was intrigued by this story about the Houston Toad—the star soprano in the frog chorus. Here’s some information about the toad from The Dallas Morning News:

In the nightly pondside chorus, the Houston toad sings soprano. Its clear, high cry, lasting as long as 14 seconds, trills above the basso profundo grunts of the less gifted. It’s a remarkable performance. But to hear it, you’ll need to travel as far as Bastrop County.

Unfortunately habitat loss and drought have driven this toad to the brink of extinction. It hasn’t been seen in the Houston area for 50 years, and is now found only in a small area of Bastrop County, Texas. In an effort to increase the numbers of the endangered toad, 5000 baby toads, raised from eggs at a Houston Zoo nursery, were released into the wild. Texas State University, the Houston Zoo, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Environmental Defense Fund, and private landowners are all working together save the Houston Toad.

I found a YouTube video so that I could hear the Houston toad sing. It’s ten minutes long, but I found it so inspiring to see how people are working to save this toad. It ends with a hopeful love scene—you’ll have to watch it to see what I mean!

09/15/09

Announcing the Winner of the FROGS ARE GREEN Photo Contest

First off, Susan and I would like to thank all the photographers who entered the FROGS ARE GREEN photo contest. We were thrilled to receive your entries and it was incredibly difficult to pick a winner. We received entries from all over the world.

This is how we chose our winner:

Because we had asked for a frog picture in a natural setting, we felt we had to stick to our own rules. That said, we got some wonderful photos of frogs in unusual places. Next year, we will have a category for this. We would like to do a separate post in the coming weeks highlighting these photos (with the photographers’ permission, of course).

Of the remaining photos, Susan and I each separately picked five favorites. From the photos we had chosen in common, we then picked one winner and one honorable mention.

So without further ado, the WINNER of our first photo contest is:

Joceyln Hyers

Jocelyn-Hyers-frog

Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea), Pierce County, Georgia, USA. Photo by Jocelyn Hyers

Camera Info:
Fuji Finepix s700
Shutter: 1/64
Aperture: F/3.5
Focal Length: 13 mm
ISO: 100

Both Susan and I were struck by the unusual composition and peacefulness of the photo below of frogs resting on leaves so we are giving an Honorable Mention to June Dufour.

Frogs on leaves. Photo by June Dufour

Frogs on leaves. Photo by June Dufour

To all the photographers: With your permission, we would love to insert your photos in future posts on FROGS ARE GREEN. We would, however, contact you before using the photo to get your permission. Your name and a link (if desired) would be included. We think your beautiful photos deserve to be seen!

Thanks again for participating in our contest!

09/11/09

The Frog-O-Sphere Controversy

This past weekend, Susan noticed “Frog-O-Sphere” kits in a Brookstone store. The frogs were barely moving and seemed as if they were dying. She found this very disturbing and asked me to find out about it. Doing a little research, I found out that just this past week, PETA staged protests in front of Brookstone stores against these kits. The Times of Trenton reported that after the PETA protests, a store in West Windsor, New Jersey, was ordered to pull the kits off its shelves after the township health office flagged the company for not having a pet shop license.

PETA protest in front of Brookstone store, Boston (Minneapolis Animal Rights Examiner)

PETA protest in front of Brookstone store, Boston (Minneapolis Animal Rights Examiner)

According to PETA’s website:

Recently, allegations have surfaced that Brookstone employees who see that frogs are languishing on store shelves have been instructed to put them ‘in the back,’ out of sight of customers, instead of contacting a veterinarian to get help for sick and dying animals.

Frog-O-Sphere kits, sold only by Brookstone, contain a plastic aquarium, two aquatic frogs, a bamboo plant, a snail, and living gravel. According to the company website, the frogs won’t outgrow the aquarium and may live for up to 4 years. The snail feeds itself and keeps the tank clean of algae and excess food. Living gravel acts as a biological filter, converting excess food and waste into a soluble form that can be used by the bamboo plant. The bamboo absorbs the waste, then releases oxygen, which helps the frogs and snail.

Keeping frogs as pets is controversial enough—a topic we’ll address in future posts. But I do think the claim that these kits promise a “complete self-contained ecosystem” is overstated. The kits remind me of the many pets I had as a child, such as the little turtle that sat under a plastic palm tree and lived a month or so. The Frog-O-Spheres fall into that category, despite the fact that the kits sound upscale, educational, and eco-friendly.

In the customer reviews on Brookstone, many people clicked “decoration” or “gift” as the reason to buy the kits. Most people also mentioned that the snails died within a couple of weeks. Unless the person who purchased the frogs is motivated to buy new snails (or get replacement snails from Brookstone), the water will soon become cloudy and the frogs will suffer, and the so-called “self-contained ecosystem” will fall apart.

From what I’ve read, African Dwarf frogs are pretty hardy and low maintenance, but they do have certain requirements that these Frog-O-Spheres don’t seem to fulfill. I looked at a frog pet site and found out that, for example, the frogs can live from 5 to 18 years, they need a gallon of water per frog, need a water heater for winter months, are less stressed out if they have artificial lighting for consistent day and night lighting (they are nocturnal), need plants and foliage to hide behind, and so on. If you have already purchased a Frog-O-Sphere, I recommend going online to learn about them or buy a pet care book about African Dwarf frogs.

If you are tempted to buy one of these Frog-O-Sphere kits, please resist. Go outside and enjoy frogs—in real ecosystems.