Puddles was a southern leopard frog (a very common North American frog) i found during a camping trip. My family and i were going on a horse back trail ride when i noticed something hop in a little mud puddle on the forest floor. When i walked over closer to it i noticed a little frog head stick up out of the muddy water, but something wasn't right about him. He had only one eye. Once i saw i knew i had to catch him. Day after day i would walk back to that puddle with a cup and attempted to catch him. After the fourth day i finally caught him and got the closer look of his oddly shaped body. I was right that he did have one eye but all his legs were different sizes. All his limbs were either too long or too short and when he hopped he couldn't go in a straight line. Chances of a frog with this kind of disability wouldn't survive long, probably not even through his first year of hibernation. So i put him in a large Tupperware container with water and took him home.
Feeding Puddles was a challenge because he wasn't coordinated enough to head straight forward to his food crawling in front of him. Instead he would lunge off the right, away from his food. I ended up having to hand feed him. Other than his problems of eating he ended up being a beautiful adult Leopard frog with a strong vocal call. He lived to be five years old until he died of what i believe is a brain mental dis function from his disability's.
Since August, 1995, when the first deformed frogs was found in south-central Minnesota. Herpetologist have reported seeing frogs with missing limbs, extra legs, misshapen limbs, paralyzed legs that stuck out on odd places of the body, legs that were webbed together from extra skin, limbs fused to their body, and legs split into two halfway down. Some frogs have even been found with a missing eye (just like Puddles) with the other eye developing inside its throat.
Scientist have not yet found an answer to this unusual cause, without success. They say they dont believe it came from inherited mutations but from deformities caused by something at young age when developing from a tadpole.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Kumquat
Kumquat; or aka Problem Child; was one of my pet toads that had her own unique identity that i could never forget. She was a southern toad that i bought in a pet store along with Andy and Peach, also southern toads. Toads usually have this rough bumpy dry skin but Kumquat was born with a very rare genetic disease called Skin Wearing disease. When amphibians shed their skin they will secrete this liquid to moisten the skin and then they will use these "claws" on their feet to pull the skin off their bodies and pull it into their mouths. Yes they eat it and i know its very disgusting but this is how they receive some of their needed nutrients. They shall do this at least once every two weeks. Kumquat, on the other hand, did shed just like any amphibian but some of the skin will dry out to fast before she could peel it off and leave it feeling waxy. As she got older her whole body felt like the touch of a candle on it smooth sides, and it was shiny too. The skin wearing disease is only genetic, not contagious so it was safe for her to live in the same tank with her other companions.
As to how Kumquat got her name and nickname is an interesting story. "Kumquat" came from a Hawaiian Christmas song called Mele Kaleki Maka (don't trust if that is spelled right) my mother loves which mentions kumquats. The nickname Problem Child came from what we believe is the possibility of her mental disorder. I'm still unsure if the disease has anything to do with it or if she just has an odd eating appetite. Many times i have caught her trying to snap her tongue at her own foot and once i found her dangling off the end of my lace string on my sweatpants. This isn't normal feeding behavior in toads.
Komquat died last year on September 2009. Its hard to say what killed her but i believe it to be from old age. Its definate that she lived a full toad life span after living fours years with me and she had to atleast be two when i got her. She never endured any suffering when she passed away.
As to how Kumquat got her name and nickname is an interesting story. "Kumquat" came from a Hawaiian Christmas song called Mele Kaleki Maka (don't trust if that is spelled right) my mother loves which mentions kumquats. The nickname Problem Child came from what we believe is the possibility of her mental disorder. I'm still unsure if the disease has anything to do with it or if she just has an odd eating appetite. Many times i have caught her trying to snap her tongue at her own foot and once i found her dangling off the end of my lace string on my sweatpants. This isn't normal feeding behavior in toads.
Komquat died last year on September 2009. Its hard to say what killed her but i believe it to be from old age. Its definate that she lived a full toad life span after living fours years with me and she had to atleast be two when i got her. She never endured any suffering when she passed away.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Plimento
I found Plimento last year during the early summer season on a dreading ninety degree day. My boyfriend and i went down to my lake house for a little weekend vacation getaway and near my house is an old abandon cattle farm with a cow grate at the end of the farmers driveway. I looked down into this 3 ft deep grate and there sitting on the bottom in the corner was this poor defenseless baby American Bullfrog. Knowing i didn't have the heart to leave it behind we went back to my house to grab my dads old Bass net and back up to grate. Four hours later of back bending work of burning our skins on the metal bars and crawling back and forth trying so desperately to catch this fast hopping frog; finally we caught him in the net. When we took him back to my cabin i noticed he was a little dried out and extremely skinny from no resource of food or water in the underground cage and i knew he wouldn't survive much longer if i just let him go. The only thing i had was an empty pimento cheese container to put him in, hence of how he got his name only over a period of time pronouncing it with an added "L" known as Plimento.
After awhile i started growing a bond with him and it was too difficult to let him go so i put in an seventy-five gallon terrarium and feed him his daily dinner of an adult mouse every night after school. Now he is back in perfect health and grew almost triple his size of approximately two pounds, full adult size.
These bullfrogs are extremely carnivorous creatures and will try to eat anything that fits in its mouth, including insects, mice, fish, birds, and even snakes.They are among the most wide-ranging North American amphibians that can be found almost anywhere in North America, Canada, and as far south as Cuba and Mexico near any freshwater pools. The males have a low baritone call almost resembling the mooing of a bull.
After awhile i started growing a bond with him and it was too difficult to let him go so i put in an seventy-five gallon terrarium and feed him his daily dinner of an adult mouse every night after school. Now he is back in perfect health and grew almost triple his size of approximately two pounds, full adult size.
These bullfrogs are extremely carnivorous creatures and will try to eat anything that fits in its mouth, including insects, mice, fish, birds, and even snakes.They are among the most wide-ranging North American amphibians that can be found almost anywhere in North America, Canada, and as far south as Cuba and Mexico near any freshwater pools. The males have a low baritone call almost resembling the mooing of a bull.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Introduction to my frog journal
In my last blog entry Herpetology i mentioned about a journal I've created of the history of all my pet frogs and toads. i mentioned the specific things i wrote about such as their age, what they ate, looked like, and when i found them. i have decided to now keep blog entry's of my journal notes and tell my readers more about the world of amphibians. i will write to you about my own personal pets and what made them so special to me and/or i will i tell you the history about their breeds.
I will begin writing about my top favorite stories of my past pet toads and frogs that i can tell you now were all found out in the wild. Some of my stories will involve midnight walks on train tracks, cow grates, hikes in the forest, and some will even be located out off state. Some of my present day pets are store bought just for the cause of needed adoption. One blog I'm very excited writing to you about is an exotic unknown species of frog/toad (still unsure) that i once had would have originally cost me $800 and a legal licence just to keep her.
Herpetologist write journals entry's for everything they find fascinating to them within their field. These blog entry's will be a great exercise for me to my future career in Herp. Keep updated every week on my new blog entry's. i hope you will enjoy reading them just as mush as i enjoyed writing them.
I will begin writing about my top favorite stories of my past pet toads and frogs that i can tell you now were all found out in the wild. Some of my stories will involve midnight walks on train tracks, cow grates, hikes in the forest, and some will even be located out off state. Some of my present day pets are store bought just for the cause of needed adoption. One blog I'm very excited writing to you about is an exotic unknown species of frog/toad (still unsure) that i once had would have originally cost me $800 and a legal licence just to keep her.
Herpetologist write journals entry's for everything they find fascinating to them within their field. These blog entry's will be a great exercise for me to my future career in Herp. Keep updated every week on my new blog entry's. i hope you will enjoy reading them just as mush as i enjoyed writing them.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Herpetologist
Herpetology is a very unknown study in the zoology branch. Its refers to the study of reptiles and amphibians, Herp the Latin word referring to "the creeping animal". It may seem like an usual pick for a career field but knowing that I myself have grown up with the slimy, warty, and scaly little creatures all my life that it would be a perfect match for me. Though i do love all kinds of snakes, lizards, and turtles my passion is mainly focused on the amphibian world. When i was 10 years old i even began to keep journal entry's of every toad and frog I've ever kept. I would label them if they were stored bought or wild, their scientific breeds, when i found them and when they passed away, how they died, how long did i keep them, what their main diet was, the color patterns on their skin, and even their personality.
People mainly call me a liar for believing that a frog or toad even has a personality but for every record i kept could be enough proof for anyone. Some of my toads have a humorous appetite going after anything that moves, some to swallowing the ornament of a wind chime or even attempting to eat their own feet. Some of my toads are calm and relaxed, happy just to cuddle between the warmth of my fingers in my hand. People also have a hard time signifying the difference between a frog and toad. Frogs are known as Rana, Latin for "the aquatic webbed foot". Frogs spend most of their lives in the water but can live on land as well. They have smooth slimy skin and perform a symphony of colors. Toads (Bufo) on the other hand spend the majority of their lives on land, only step foot in water for a drink. They have a warty dry skin and can even be used as a leather textile. Because their home is mainly of land the majority of most toads you would find in North America would be the simple shades of browns and grays to blend in (camouflage) to the forest floors to hide from predators. Most frogs want to be seen by their predators, like the poisonous dart frogs for instance. Their skins put on beautiful show of neon's and all the other colors of the rainbow that easily stand out. These unusual colors tell their predators; such as birds and snakes; that they are extremely deadly and and if you eat them you will die.
Herpetologist doesn't just study the difference between a frog and toad but they study with their life styles and what we humans can do to save them, in fact they are now dealing with one of the greatest amphibious holocausts we have ever came to known. Recent studies show that just within this past decade one third of the entire amphibian population have been wiped out and it all thanks to us humans. Our homes and cities are tearing down the swamps and ponds, forests and jungles that originally belonged to the frogs, toads and other wild animals. And if this isn't enough we have now poisoned the water systems with our wastes creating a new disease called Chytrid spreading all over our world, even in places where a house is rare to come across to. The rivers and streams are the tiny veins of the earth making it extremely easy for this deadly plague to spread and the one place that is getting hit the hardest is the tiny strip of Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica. Panama and Costa Rica are the homes to one of the most beautiful and apparently sacred toad in the world; the Golden Toad. It appears to look like a solid golden frog due to its smooth skin; the males are golden as well but have these unusual black spotted pattern; though in fact they are toads due to most of its life spent on land. Millions of these toads used to walk the jungle floors and sang like tiny high pitched trembling whistles in the night. But when the hazardous Chytrid hit in their water streams, the jungles went completely silent. Now the only places you would ever see the Golden Toad would be held in captivity but Herpetologist are currently working for a break-through cure in dreams that someday soon they would return back to the wild.
So technically speaking i want to be a doctor specializing in frogs and toads. My dream in to receive my Herp major and eventually go down to Panama jungles and fight back for these magnificent frogs lives. For all frogs and toads in the world to give back their freedom from the plague and hopefully someday myslef hear the Golden Toad sing their song.
People mainly call me a liar for believing that a frog or toad even has a personality but for every record i kept could be enough proof for anyone. Some of my toads have a humorous appetite going after anything that moves, some to swallowing the ornament of a wind chime or even attempting to eat their own feet. Some of my toads are calm and relaxed, happy just to cuddle between the warmth of my fingers in my hand. People also have a hard time signifying the difference between a frog and toad. Frogs are known as Rana, Latin for "the aquatic webbed foot". Frogs spend most of their lives in the water but can live on land as well. They have smooth slimy skin and perform a symphony of colors. Toads (Bufo) on the other hand spend the majority of their lives on land, only step foot in water for a drink. They have a warty dry skin and can even be used as a leather textile. Because their home is mainly of land the majority of most toads you would find in North America would be the simple shades of browns and grays to blend in (camouflage) to the forest floors to hide from predators. Most frogs want to be seen by their predators, like the poisonous dart frogs for instance. Their skins put on beautiful show of neon's and all the other colors of the rainbow that easily stand out. These unusual colors tell their predators; such as birds and snakes; that they are extremely deadly and and if you eat them you will die.
Herpetologist doesn't just study the difference between a frog and toad but they study with their life styles and what we humans can do to save them, in fact they are now dealing with one of the greatest amphibious holocausts we have ever came to known. Recent studies show that just within this past decade one third of the entire amphibian population have been wiped out and it all thanks to us humans. Our homes and cities are tearing down the swamps and ponds, forests and jungles that originally belonged to the frogs, toads and other wild animals. And if this isn't enough we have now poisoned the water systems with our wastes creating a new disease called Chytrid spreading all over our world, even in places where a house is rare to come across to. The rivers and streams are the tiny veins of the earth making it extremely easy for this deadly plague to spread and the one place that is getting hit the hardest is the tiny strip of Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica. Panama and Costa Rica are the homes to one of the most beautiful and apparently sacred toad in the world; the Golden Toad. It appears to look like a solid golden frog due to its smooth skin; the males are golden as well but have these unusual black spotted pattern; though in fact they are toads due to most of its life spent on land. Millions of these toads used to walk the jungle floors and sang like tiny high pitched trembling whistles in the night. But when the hazardous Chytrid hit in their water streams, the jungles went completely silent. Now the only places you would ever see the Golden Toad would be held in captivity but Herpetologist are currently working for a break-through cure in dreams that someday soon they would return back to the wild.
So technically speaking i want to be a doctor specializing in frogs and toads. My dream in to receive my Herp major and eventually go down to Panama jungles and fight back for these magnificent frogs lives. For all frogs and toads in the world to give back their freedom from the plague and hopefully someday myslef hear the Golden Toad sing their song.
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