12/5/12

Frog Gifts for the Holidays 2012

One of our favorite posts is the annual Frogs Are Green frog gifts holiday extravaganza. What could be more fun that picking and choosing fun frog gifts for the holidays? Click on the pictures below to connect to the sites (Pier 1, Amazon, Target, and so on). Enjoy!

Little Stuff

Frog Mug (Pier 1)

Toad Abode (Pier 1)

Toads in your garden will consume all sorts of pesky insects. They need a shallow pond and some shelter to thrive, so set this colorful ceramic toad house near the habitat and wait. It may take a year, but your yard will soon be hoppin’.

Frog Egg Timer (Amazon)

Susan gave me one of these and I use it every day. So much more fun than your usual boring egg timer.


For the Youngest Frog Lovers

Toddler Blanket Sleeper (Amazon)

Plush Frog (Amazon)

It was tough picking out my favorite stuffed frog, but I liked this one. One of the reviewers on Amazon said, “This little frog is adorable and very well-made. My baby has loved it since he first saw it in his Easter basket at 6 months old. He sleeps with it, sucks on it, flings it around, hits the side of his crib with it, etc. It’s been washed many times and still looks new. Best of all, it’s a safe toy as the eyes are stitching, not beads or buttons. It’s small and travels well.”

For Kids

What kid can resist frog rain boots? Just perfect for a rainy day.

Kids’ Rain Boots (Target)

A Frog Book (Target)

It’s Bertha’s day to try out for the prestigious frog choir, but when she sings…the other frogs cover their ears!

For Adults

Women’s Rain Boots (Target)

Who said only kids can enjoy splashing in puddles in frog rain boots?

Armchair Learning—Kids and Adults

How about learning to identify some frogs this winter before spring comes?

300 Frogs (Barnes and Noble)

Enjoy the holidays!

08/25/12

Frogs Are Blue!

Most people think frogs are green, right? And it’s true, most frogs are a greenish, brownish, yellowish color, the better to hide from predators among grass and other vegetation.

But frogs can be many different colors, even bright crayon colors like sky blue.

This three-centimeter-long blue tree frog in a tree in Chofu, western Tokyo. Courtesy of Toba Aquarium, Japan.

Why would a frog species evolve such a bright vivid color that would make it stand out? In most cases the frog, such as the colorful dart frogs, are giving a strong warning to predators: Don’t eat me! I’m poisonous! Either through instinct or through learning the hard way, predators will avoid them. These brightly colored frogs contain poisons that can kill or paralyze an animal that comes into contact with it.

The frog’s skin is not actually blue. The color comes from layers of chromotophores, or pigment-containing and light-reflecting cells between the dermis and epidermis (inner and outer skin layers). A blend of the three types of chromatophores creates the color, or in some cases, even transparency:

melanophores: contain pigments that appear black or brown from melanin

xanthophores: contain yellow colored pigments

iridophores: contain reflective or iridescent pigments

So although most of the time, frogs are green, sometimes Frogs Are Blue!

01/21/12

How far can a frog jump?

This morning at the library I found a recently published book called FROGS: The Animal Answer Guide by herpetologists Mike Dorcas and Whit Gibbons (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011). The book is structured in the form of questions and answers, helping readers gain insight into amphibians and raising awareness about the importance of frogs and toads in our natural world.

FROGS: The Animal Answer Guide by Mike Dorcas and Whit Gibbons

Here are some questions posed in the book:

Do frogs sleep?

What color are a frog’s eyes?

How do some frogs stick to walls?

Why should people care for frogs?

What roles do frogs play in native cultures?

Do frogs have teeth?

The answers are easy to read and non-technical. While the book wasn’t shelved in the children’s room, it would be fine for kids ages 10 and up.

So here’s one question from the book:

How far can a frog jump?

Many frogs can jump at least 30 times their body length, and some smaller species of tree frogs can jump 50 times their length. This is the human equivalent of jumping the length of a football field without a running start. Some frogs in the genus Rhacophorus, flying or gliding frogs of Asia, can go even longer distances. These frogs have webbed toes that they use as parachutes to slow their fall and glide from one tree to the next, or to the ground. Jumping helps frogs avoid predators; the skeletons of some species are modified to absorb the shock when they land. Not all frogs are long jumpers. The narrowmouth toads of the southeast and or the Mexican burrowing toad can only hop a few inches.

03/16/11

What's the Difference Between a Frog and a Toad?

illustration copyright Arnold Lobel

Ever wonder what the difference is between a frog and a toad? At FROGS ARE GREEN, we thought we’d enlighten you so that when you’re hiking in the woods and someone says, “Look at that cute frog!” you’ll be able to say, “That’s not a frog, that’s a toad!”

Frogs and toads are both amphibians in the order Anura.  Of the three major classifications of amphibians, frogs make up the vast majority, about 90 percent of all amphibian species (the other types of amphibians are salamanders and caecilians). Toads are a sub-classification of frogs, meaning that all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads (clear so far?).

WHERE DO FROGS AND TOADS LIVE

Both frogs and toads live near ponds, swamps, and marshes. Frogs can live on the ground or in trees. But toads live only on the ground.

SLIM VS. CHUBBY

Both frogs and toads have stubby front legs and they are both about the same size. But frogs have slimmer bodies and longer hind legs. These limbs are especially good for leaping from tree to tree and for swimming.

Toads are chubbier than frogs. They have shorter hind legs, good for hopping around on the ground, or walking and crawling. They are a bit slower and less active than their leaping frog cousins.

WEBBED FEET OR NOT?

Frogs usually have webbed hind feet, and some have webbed front feet. Some frogs, such as tree frogs, have pads on their toes that help frogs climb trees, or even stick to a glass window.

Most toads don’t have webbed feet or sticky toe pads. They move by a series of short hops on land.

SMOOTH VS. WARTY

Frog skin is usually smooth and moist. Toad skin is drier and bumpier. The bumps look like warts and its skin feels rough (don’t worry—you won’t get warts if you touch a toad’s skin!).

FROG AND TOAD EGGS

Frogs lay eggs in bunches, or clusters, which have a jelly-like substance around them. Toads lay their eggs in lines, or strands, on leaves of plants that live in the water.

These are the basic differences between frogs and toads, but things do get confusing. You can’t necessarily go by the common name of the frog or toad. In some parts of the world, especially tropical areas near the equator, frogs and toads often look alike. For example, the Harlequin frog is actually a toad. The only way to tell these frogs and toads apart is to look at the differences in their teeth and bones. Also, if a frog-like amphibian lives in a dry area, it is most likely a toad.

But for the most part, these guidelines will help you distinguish between the two types of amphibians. So this summer get your camera, your notebook, and binoculars and see if you can find some of these intriguing animals in the woods, near marshes and ponds, or even in your backyard.

03/3/11

Celebrating Spring Peepers! Tiny Frogs with a Mighty Voice

Now that it’s March, it’s almost time for the peepers to usher in spring!

Renowned science writer Carl Safina describes spring peepers so beautifully in his new book The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World. I enjoy reading anything by Safina, who usually writes about the ocean, sea animals, or birds. He’s won many awards for his work, including the MacArthur “genius award.” Safina’s writing reminds me of Rachel Carson’s—very lyrical, yet not sentimental. In this book, he writes mainly about a year he spent in a cabin on Long Island. In the chapter, “March: Out Like a Lamb, ” he writes this about spring peepers:

I open a window to let in the season’s lushest, most delicious sound. It’s from tiny tree frogs that come to water to go a-courting—Spring Peepers. So far, these little amphibians remain abundant. And for as long as they’ve been, and as long as they are, their singing makes the difference between the night of winter and the breath of spring…

Hearing them is easy. Seeing them takes some effort. But even after I step into the shallows as deep as my boots allow, even though I hear calls coming from the half-submerged vegetation right around me—well within the halo of my flashlight—they’re all but invisible. They’re smaller than the tip of your thumb, colored like dead leaves. The majority of my neighbors—even many who were raised here— have never seen one. Many people assume the callers are crickets. But the sound and the season are so different, one might logically assume the moon is just the sun at night.

Safina goes on to describe how as a teenager he taught himself how to find spring peepers by following the sound into the woods at night, but they were very elusive. He finally found one and

…when that tiny movement caught my eye, I saw the littlest frog I’d ever seen, his bubble-gum throat puffed almost as big as his body, calling his heart out. That mighty sound from that tiny body appealed to my teenage sensibilities. His was a strong, clear voice, defiantly undaunted about being so small a soul in so big a world.

Spring peepers Safina writes are a “strong and joyous life-affirming presence” and he would

…gladly suffer a chilly bedroom just to open a window in spring when the peepers are at their peak, and let the exuberant trilling chorus resonate in my chest. “We’re alive,” they seem to say, “and time is short.” No sound in our region is so welcome and welcoming, so revivifying, as peepers in full spring chorus. Or so seemingly unlikely. Out of dust, God is said to have made one man. But here, out of mud, such song!

To celebrate peepers and spring, Susan created a poster for Earth Day 2011, with a wonderful photograph by Richard D. Bartlett. Enjoy!

11/24/10

GREEN FRIDAY – Frog Gifts for the Holidays

Although this Friday is Black Friday, we’d like to offer an alternative: GREEN FRIDAYa day to order some wonderful frog gifts online—no pushing and shoving at the big box stores requiredl!  Enjoy!

FROG BOOK

Frog by Thomas Marent

Frog by nature photographer Thomas Marent features over 400 truly stunning images of frogs and other amphibians. A beautifully designed and produced book (published by DK), Frog is guaranteed to turn anyone into a frog enthusiast.

FROG PUZZLE

For kids ages 9-12 (and for puzzle-loving adults) here’s a good project for a winter’s day—a 300-piece Ravensburger puzzle of colorful poison dart frogs.

FROG CALENDAR

A gorgeous mini-calendar for frog lovers.

ADOPT A FROG

Adopting a frog or other animal from the World Wildlife Fund is a great gift for a child or an adult who cares about animals.

For a $50 adoption, you will receive:

  • plush frog
  • adoption certificate
  • full-color photo of a red-eyed tree frog
  • spotlight card full of fascinating information about your frog

Ipad/Ipod Apps

If you’re planning to buy your loved one a new ipod or ipad, why not fill it with a few frog or amphibian apps! Refer to our recent post on apps.

screenshot from the FROGS! app

SAVE THE FROGS totebag:

Forget plastic bags. Do your shopping with this cool eco-friendly Save the Frogs totebag and help support a great amphibian conservation organization.

PLUSH FROG

Here’s a cute frog to cuddle with: Ty Pluffies Pond Frog

CLOTHES FOR KIDS and ADULTS

Frogs Are Green Tees

Send a positive eco-message with our It Is Easy to be Green T-shirt with art by internationally renowned illustrator Paul Zwolak. Available in kids and adult sizes. (Proceeds go to amphibian conservation organizations.)

FROG SLIPPERS

We’re not sure we can resist buying these cozy frog slippers for the women in our lives.

FROG GIFTS FOR BABY

Happy Blankies

When you buy a blanket from Happy Blankie, one is also donated to a child in need. The blankies, available in different sizes, are made with luxuriously plush “minky” dot fabric, trimmed and back with silky, charmeuse satin.

ANGEL DEAR PILLOWS, BLANKETS, AND ACCESSORIES FOR BABY

Angel dear features cashmere-soft baby blankets, rattles, clothes etc. I have the frog pillow below, which has been adopted by our new “baby” (an 8-month-old kitten) as her preferred place to nap. It is unbelievably soft and cuddly!

Frogs Are Green Onesie

Let the youngest member of your family spread the word about our amphibian friends with a Frogs Are Green Onesie. (Proceeds go to amphibian conservation organizations.)

POSTERS

This year at Frogs Are Green a couple of amazing artists have donate their work to help our cause.

Children’s book illustrator Sherry Neidigh donated her art for this lovely poster—A Frog’s Dream: Save Our Home. (Proceeds go to amphibian conservation organizations.)

Paul Zwolak donated his art for this poster —It Is Easy Being Green. (Proceeds go to amphibian conservation organizations.)


STOCKING STUFFERS

Frog key chain

My husband gave me this frog key chain, which has a button activated bright LED light and makes “Ribbet” sounds. Occasionally I bump my purse and my keychain starts ribbeting, and I enjoy seeing people’s reactions!