|
|
|
|
Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
 Posted - 04/02/2006 : 21:06:59
|
I live fairly close to a county-owned wildlife park, and sometimes my son and I go for walks there. Lucky for me, today I remembered to take my camera with me, because as soon as we got close, I could hear that there were a lot of f-ing frogs around.
Here is an overview shot of where we found all the f-ing frogs:
(Click for original image.)
The red rectangle marks the area (more or less) where we saw the most f-ing frog action, including these f-ing frogs:
And this f-ing frog:
Who, a few seconds later, looked like this:
And this nasty f-ing frog:
Who may only look menacing because it's slightly out of focus.
Finally, I'd like to present this 43-second video (watch out, it's over 16 MB!). Most of the sound in it is made by the f-ing frogs. The two voices heard at the end are my son and me (he waited over 40 seconds to answer the question "do you see the frogs?" and was pointing at a frog on a stick when I replied to him).
I'd also like to note that at any moment, I expect f-ing filthy to come along and tell me "those aren't f-ing frogs, they're f-ing toads."
|
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
|
|
Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
|
|
beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2006 : 02:18:45 [Permalink]
|
| Too loud for you, Dave? I prefer a good frog chorus over f-ing freeway noise at least. |
 |
|
|
filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2006 : 03:52:21 [Permalink]
|
quote:
I'd also like to note that at any moment, I expect f-ing filthy to come along and tell me "those aren't f-ing frogs, they're f-ing toads."
Precisely! 
Probably the eastern spadefoot (Scaphilopus hammondi), although I can't be sure just from the photos. It is one of the more common species of f-ers in your area. You should also be hearing the lovely trill of the grey tree f-er (Hyla chrysiscelis}, although these will sing mostly in the evening, especally as the season moves along.
I sometimes feel a little sad for city folk, who never get to hear these ancient choruses.
|
"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
|
|
|
|
Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2006 : 05:59:16 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
Or for Ricky to come along and tell you the video is only 13.8MB.
Well, it was partially a typo, 'cause it should have been 14, and the rest of the problem is that some people count a megabyte as 1,000,000 bytes, while others count it as 1,048,576 bytes (220), and Windows counts it one way at times, the other at other times.quote:
Originally posted by filthy
Precisely!
Of course, I knew my guess (whichever one I made) would be wrong. F-ing toads, then.quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
Too loud for you, Dave?
F no. The f-ing toads really are trying to get on with the toad equivalent of f-ing, so it was just an f-ing play on words. (Actually, I saw three other people taking pictures of the f-ing toads, and mentioned to the last that it seems like a lot of people were hooked on frog pornography - which I now know to be toad porn.) |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
|
|
|
filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2006 : 07:28:34 [Permalink]
|
Really nice pics, by the way. You must have had a great outing. Toads are fun and a lot more approachable than frogs, thus easier to observe.
My brother keeps a small pool in his back yard just for the toads to spawn in. Each year, he cleans it out and throws in a few guppies to keep the mosquitoes down. I can sit for hours on a spring evening just listening to "his" toads sing their lies of love.
|
"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
|
|
|
|
Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2006 : 08:22:43 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by filthy
Really nice pics, by the way.
Thanks. I cropped 'em a lot, because my little camera only has a 4X zoom.quote:
You must have had a great outing.
I would have spent more time there, and probably got dirty, had I not promised my kid I'd take him to the big playground a 15-minute walk from the toads.quote:
Toads are fun and a lot more approachable than frogs, thus easier to observe.
My brother keeps a small pool in his back yard just for the toads to spawn in. Each year, he cleans it out and throws in a few guppies to keep the mosquitoes down. I can sit for hours on a spring evening just listening to "his" toads sing their lies of love.
Last year, we had a small inflatable pool out back which, when school started, wound up neglected in a corner of my yard. When my wife finally bugged me into cleaning up back there, in early October, I discovered that the pool had been partially refilled with rain water. And then, when I went to empty it, there was a live frog, about two inches from nose to butt, swimming around.
This, of course, made me run and get the wife and boy. By the time we all got back to the pool, the frog was sitting in a corner like a lump. I hadn't told my wife what she was supposed to be looking for, and she was looking at the pool with a "why am I here" sorta face. So, I reached down an poked the frog, which prompted a big reaction from both it and my wife. My kid ran over and poked the frog a couple of times, himself, before I shooed him away and then shooed the frog over to a nearby puddle. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
|
|
|
trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2006 : 09:46:06 [Permalink]
|
lets see...
can I one up those frog(toad) pics?
toad
 |
all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams |
|
|
|
filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2006 : 13:03:34 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by trogdor
lets see...
can I one up those frog(toad) pics?
toad
Nice!
Not at all sure about the ID of the frog. It's obviously one of the leopard frogs, possibly the pickerel frog (Rana palustris). The toad is an easy one: Bufo americanus, the American toad. Both are pretty much mid-western species.
Here's one of my favorites:
Argentine bell, or horned frog Ceratophrys ornata. Called the pac-man frog by the pet trade, it is a very interesting, if gluttonous, animal in the terrarium.
There has been a persistent rumor that these have established a population in the Everglades due to escaped & released pets. I have yet to see any conformation and until I do, I must call bullshit on it even whilst admitting (hoping for?) the possibility.
|
"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
|
|
|
|
Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 13:23:09 [Permalink]
|
Went back down to the pond earlier today:
Click image for full-sized original
My camera seemed to like focusing on the oil slicking the top of the water more than anything else. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
|
|
|
filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 14:03:55 [Permalink]
|
A nice, healthy-looking batch of larvae...
These are quite easy to catch with a small net. Dip some up as they develop and show the process to your son.
One day soon however, you will have to be careful where you step lest you squash some tiny toadlets hopping off to their new, drier environment and the hognosed snakes. In fact, at that time, you might get to observe a hogger or two hanging around (it will most likely be under cover). If you find one, don't be leery of it; they look and act ferocious, but don't bite. They don't make good 'pet' snakes however because they are specialized feeders. All they will eat is toads.
Eastern hognosed in a defensive posture. There is also a melanistic phase.
|
"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
|
|
|
|
trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 14:29:36 [Permalink]
|
| I have some real good frog pics that I want to post. but they are large images. Imageshack spat them out before they were half chewed. suggestions? |
all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams |
|
|
|
Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
|
|
trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 18:14:25 [Permalink]
|
click on it. the real pic is vary large. I had to scale it down a lot. |
all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams |
|
|
|
Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 18:55:26 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by filthy
Dip some up as they develop and show the process to your son.
Had we found the actual spawn, we could have followed along with a book my son has all about the procreation of frogs ('cept we would probably have toads). We'd also need another aquarium, and more space. Maybe next year. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
