March MOTM - Lisa (irThumper)

[irThumper]

Almost forgot to post! Let's see, what was I going to put next... ah, I remember, summer vacation at Fort Stevens National Park Fort Stevens (Oregon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The thing I remember most about Fort Stevens, other than the cool (and kind of spooky) concrete bunkers, was... the frogs! While on a walking tour of the bunkers we discovered some water sitting in the depression of a gun turret. In that water were metamorphosing tadpoles, likely Pacific tree frogs. I remember how fascinated all us kids were by this, so much so that the park ranger couldn't continue the tour until we had satisfied our curiosity about these new little life forms; the tour had turned from a history lesson to a biology class!

The park and campgrounds at Fort Stevens was a veritable Herper Heaven. There were trails along wooded streams, open meadows, ponds... all fully accessible to the snooping of frog loving camp kids. One time my friend, Freddy, and I went with some other kids and went looking for "Swamp frogs" (Pacific Red-legs). There had been one spotted near a bridge in a slow section of the creek near the camp ground, but the water was full of some kind of sludgy stuff that looked like sewage (but didn't smell like it), so none of the other kids wanted to try to catch him... but they knew I would I went down to the water, and this tannish looking stuff was thick and gross ( I still to this day wonder what it was!) but there was a big Swamp frog floating right in the middle of it-- I wanted that frog! I tried to get him to swim toward shore by tossing pebbles behind him, but he kept popping under then coming up in a different spot. Finally he came up close to the bank... I crouched over preparing to make a grab at him-- and slipped and fell into the creek! When I came up I was covered head to toe in mystery muck... but I also had my frog! I proudly toted him back to camp but I didn't get to keep him for long, unfortunately. My mother let out a shriek that would have woken the dead when she caught sight of me... lol. She made Freddy take my frog back where we got him and I had to be washed off with a garden hose (that water was COLD!) and then had no less than two baths in the camp showers, one in my clothes and one without... I swear mom almost scrubbed the skin off of me! I was given a good chewing out and threatened NEVER to do anything like that again... it didn't keep me from becoming mired up to my knees in green slimy mud during another frog adventure later on, though, lol!

[elly]

Hope you feel better soon.

it's weird because I also used to collect toads and let them loose in that Fisher-Price castle set.

[irThumper]

Hope you feel better soon.

it's weird because I also used to collect toads and let them loose in that Fisher-Price castle set.

Birds of a feather! Or should that be froggers of a feather... lol

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Almost forgot to post! Let's see, what was I going to put next... ah, I remember, summer vacation at Fort Stevens National Park Fort Stevens (Oregon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The thing I remember most about Fort Stevens, other than the cool (and kind of spooky) concrete bunkers, was... the frogs! While on a walking tour of the bunkers we discovered some water sitting in the depression of a gun turret. In that water were metamorphosing tadpoles, likely Pacific tree frogs. I remember how fascinated all us kids were by this, so much so that the park ranger couldn't continue the tour until we had satisfied our curiosity about these new little life forms; the tour had turned from a history lesson to a biology class!

The park and campgrounds at Fort Stevens was a veritable Herper Heaven. There were trails along wooded streams, open meadows, ponds... all fully accessible to the snooping of frog loving camp kids. One time my friend, Freddy, and I went with some other kids and went looking for "Swamp frogs" (Pacific Red-legs). There had been one spotted near a bridge in a slow section of the creek near the camp ground, but the water was full of some kind of sludgy stuff that looked like sewage (but didn't smell like it), so none of the other kids wanted to try to catch him... but they knew I would I went down to the water, and this tannish looking stuff was thick and gross ( I still to this day wonder what it was!) but there was a big Swamp frog floating right in the middle of it-- I wanted that frog! I tried to get him to swim toward shore by tossing pebbles behind him, but he kept popping under then coming up in a different spot. Finally he came up close to the bank... I crouched over preparing to make a grab at him-- and slipped and fell into the creek! When I came up I was covered head to toe in mystery muck... but I also had my frog! I proudly toted him back to camp but I didn't get to keep him for long, unfortunately. My mother let out a shriek that would have woken the dead when she caught sight of me... lol. She made Freddy take my frog back where we got him and I had to be washed off with a garden hose (that water was COLD!) and then had no less than two baths in the camp showers, one in my clothes and one without... I swear mom almost scrubbed the skin off of me! I was given a good chewing out and threatened NEVER to do anything like that again... it didn't keep me from becoming mired up to my knees in green slimy mud during another frog adventure later on, though, lol!

I used to try to catch this green anole that lived on/by our house for like 5 years, and it's funny is because we had caught him while he was a baby and got stuck on our front door during a cold night during fall. We named him lucky, and every spring/summer he comes to greet/taunt us with his dewlap,(there are no females around him when he does that) and every time we go to catch him, he teleports to the bush it seems like! He probably learned our tactics of two is better than one, and avoided us that way. If your wondering how an anole can remember, check out this page from Frank Indiviglio! Green Anole Intelligence - Researchers Shocked by Lizard Brainpower

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Also I just realized... Gravity Falls is set in Oregon... Are you holding out on us...

[irThumper]

Also I just realized... Gravity Falls is set in Oregon... Are you holding out on us...

Nope, I swear! lol. The only falls I am familiar with are Multnomah Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Horsetail Falls, Silver Falls, and Salt Creek Falls The TV show I still am clueless about. Guess I'll have to see if they have anything on YouTube, lol

[irThumper]

Will be writing more about this tomorrow, and about the experiences with my White's tree frogs tomorrow or Sunday

[irThumper]

Guh... sorry I didn't get anything posted today-- we managed to get through the winter (if we could even say we HAD winter here this year!) with nary a sniffle and now I've caught the darn bug that's going around (dad had it first) *sigh*. I am so sloooow... I got involved replying to a message from someone looking for WTF breeders only to find it's 1:14 A.M. and I am exhausted I promise I will get all my froggle postings done today (Sunday) so I can get onto photos and videos on Monday! (I feel like such a schmuck, meh...)

[irThumper]

Ok, back to this...


(In the interest of time I am going to repost my very first post, which was about the guys we built this micro-eco habitat for)

I first found FrogForum while researching for the above project... here is my very first post!

Pacific NW Frog Lover


Hello all!

My name's Lisa but my friends call me "Thumper" (first name given pre-birth, lol). My introduction to the world of amphibians began when my grandpa gave me two Pacific tree frogs to take to first grade show and tell a LONG time ago. I have been a frog lover ever since! From those first two little frogs we wound up being "'Phib Keepers" for a number of years as I grew up. Our last were a pair of Bombina Orientalis back in the mid 1990's, then we had a long hiatus... until recently. At the beginning of July 2014 we had a Pacific tree frog show up on the sidewalk near our wheelchair ramp, out in front of our apartment. We have green space behind us (closest known water source is a small pond at a retirement center a few blocks away) but everything here is all concrete and black top out front, no landscaping. We placed a small water dish by the ramp and would look for froggy at night as he climbed up the wood siding and snatched flying insects drawn by the porch light. From the first frog three others eventually showed up... what concerned us was we were heading into a heat wave, and all these little frogs had was a hot sidewalk, a short wheelchair ramp to hide under, and a little dish of water. One day it was so hot that one of the frogs was out in the dish in the middle of the day; he looked bad, and when I came closer he didn't even move. I wondered if he was comatose from the 100 degree heat... he didn't even move after I picked up the dish-- until I took it into our air conditioned apartment, then his eyes suddenly popped open! I put him inside a long tank containing two trailing semi-miniature African violets and he looked very happy to see the plants, crawling into one immediately. We made the decision to try and bring his other little friends in as well (all four were half grown). It wasn't too hard, as when I opened the door that night one was sitting on the metal ridge right in front of the doorway (it might have been cooler there due to the ac leaking through?) so I scooped him up and brought him in; the same scenario happened with #3 & #4. So now we have had these little green & brown "house guests" for about 4 weeks and have made them as comfortable as possible. I determined that when the weather/temps moderate (the frog temps indoors range between 73-75 F. vs the 90 degree temps currently outside) that we would return them to a more frog friendly environment, making sure to be in plenty of time for them to get ready for winter hibernation. In the meantime a 5th frog showed up outside! And that's when I came up with the idea to build a micro-eco frog habitat out on our sidewalk. I've enjoyed having these guys for a visit, and I have taken plenty of video to remember them when they leave our froggy hotel Someday I hope to be able to get a pair or trio of White's Tree Frogs and keep them in a really awesome live planted set up, something I've wanted to do for a long time, lol. Would love to talk to other folks who especially love tree frogs. Thanks! ~irThumper


http://www.frogforum.net/introductions-area/30712-pacific-nw-frog-lover.html

Here is the album I made of our visiting PCFs, inside and out

irThumper's Album: Pacific Tree Frogs by irThumper

On September 28, 2014 our little house guests returned to the wild; they were released in ecologically friendly PCF habitat (with shrubs/trees/meadows, a creek, and breeding pond) on private property. This album details that day...

irThumper's Album: Pacific Tree Frogs Return to Nature by irThumper

In the couple months I sheltered these PCFs I learned quite a bit more than what we knew about frog care growing up... there was NO information back then, and we basically were winging it, with recommendations from my ecologically experienced grandpa. We never had any problems with our PCFs as far as skin disease, MBD, intestinal issues (they always had nice firm little poops), constipation, etc. The only issue we ever ran across was one frog who prolapsed and another, older frog, who eventually went blind but otherwise led a perfectly normal life. We kept our first frogs for 6+ years and many of them lived to be at least that old, maybe older, as the majority of them were fully grown adults when we got them. This time around I discovered just how many advancements have been made in herp keeping and care... there are many species available in the herp trade, a good selection of supplements & feeder choices, numerous housing options, supplies galore, decor up the wazoo, and best of all there are internet resources like FrogForum! The one thing still lacking is knowledgeable herp vets, particularly where frogs are concerned-- frogs need to stop being viewed as "disposable" pets because veterinarians that deal with them are so few and far between, and when they are located that the expense is often so exorbitant that folks can't afford to pay. It's not that frogs are any less valuable (just look at various prices for some species!) or deserve treatment less than more typical pets, the problem is that when a problem with a frog arises that the deck is often severely stacked against them for survival, especially when it comes to issues requiring more than just simple medication. Frogs are fragile, sensitive beings... they are the barometers of the world, and are showing us what we ourselves are facing if we don't do something to clean up this planet and fix what human beings have done to destroy our home



Next: From PCFs to WTFs, learning curves galore!

[irThumper]

I used to try to catch this green anole that lived on/by our house for like 5 years, and it's funny is because we had caught him while he was a baby and got stuck on our front door during a cold night during fall. We named him lucky, and every spring/summer he comes to greet/taunt us with his dewlap,(there are no females around him when he does that) and every time we go to catch him, he teleports to the bush it seems like! He probably learned our tactics of two is better than one, and avoided us that way. If your wondering how an anole can remember, check out this page from Frank Indiviglio! Green Anole Intelligence - Researchers Shocked by Lizard Brainpower

That is AWESOME!