A prince in disguise?

From time to time in these blog posts I've mentioned the "wet spot" in our back yard. In Spring-time it's full of frog choruses which, for the most part, sound cheerful. I'm not sure where, specifically, all those noisy anurans disappear to during the Summer, although we see gray treefrogs on the windows, screens and railings from time to time.

is a frog in a bird house like a cat in the hat?

Photo by J. Harrington

A day or so ago, I went to check the restored bluebird house, the one that someone had filled with twigs, to see if anyone else had started a nest. I was surprised to discover, inside the house, a treefrog. At the time I didn't have either a camera or cell phone with me. Today I checked again. It's not clear whether the frog was back in the bluebird house or still in the bluebird house. In either case, the frog is unlikely to be consuming many insects while ensconced in a bird house. I may have to consider an eviction action. The frog is large enough to consume deer flies but the fact that it mostly hunts at night probably means it doesn't help reduce that population very much. Which might also explain why this particular frog spends its days in a bluebird house. I wonder if current inhabitation by a frog would deter bluebirds from nesting. I also wonder if we humans know nearly enough to try to pick winners and losers in nature.

That's it for today, except for a brief report that much of the time I've been writing this, several hummingbirds and bees or yellowjackets have been chasing each other away from the "oriole" feeder. All of which triggers my parental reaction of "if you can't play nice together, I'll take away your toys until you learn to get along and take turns." But then, see the last sentence in the preceding paragraph.

The Frog

By Hilaire Belloc

Be kind and tender to the Frog,

   And do not call him names,

As ‘Slimy skin,’ or ‘Polly-wog,’

   Or likewise ‘Ugly James,’

Or ‘Gape-a-grin,’ or ‘Toad-gone-wrong,’   

   Or ‘Billy Bandy-knees’:

The Frog is justly sensitive

   To epithets like these.

No animal will more repay

   A treatment kind and fair;

At least so lonely people say

Who keep a frog (and, by the way,   

They are extremely rare).

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