Meet Linus, the accidental Pacific chorus frog

[Molch]

Also known as 9-lives Linus.

Life 1: got accidentally shipped from Washington State to the Arctic (northern Alaska!) at the onset of winter, hidden in the kale in a box of organic veggies.

Life 2: lucked out to arrive in the house of a biologist, instead of one of the other 99.9% of Alaska residents who would have simply screeched hysterically and squashed him like a bug.

Life 3: almost got guillotined when said kale was chopped.

Life 4: almost embarked on a dark journey to the unknown when he narrowly escaped being flushed down the kitchen sink drain

Life 5: hopped out of the sink and unduly attracted the interest of 2 large dogs. Luckily, said dogs had never seen a frog before (this is northern Alaska...) and puzzled momentarily as to whether this starnge new insect should be consumed or not.

Life 6: arrived in Alaska after freeze-up when no more flying insects could be found. Refused earthworms and was starting to look very, very skinny when Mama's order of drosophila and crickets arrived.

Lives 7-9: well, I'd like to think he has a few of them left.

Below some pics of Linus (now 7/8th inch long, after voraciously taking on the crickets and fruit flies!) in his new home.

Of course, judging by his throat he is probably a girl, eh? But then, he's only 7/8th inch long. Would he be this year's hatchling?

[JeffX]

Lucky frog. It's a good thing you found him.

[Jace]

Beautiful frog and setup. Still a little small to sex as of yet, but looking very healthy. He or she might have lost a few lives, but now living with you, a few might be gained back!

[Molch]

do you think he would have hatched out in spring 2010? He arrived in early September at about 3/4 inches long...

[Jace]

I collected my froglets in August, and they were under 1", so I figure that your little one was born either late August or even early September. These frogs are cold tolerant, and from what I understand, can reproduce in cooler conditions like Fall. If yours was born in the spring, he would be full size by now, as they grow very fast on a good diet. My female, Taiki, was given to me in July of this year and reached almost full size in 8-10 weeks.

May I ask how big his setup is? I love how you've done it-it really shows him off nicely!

[JimO]

Linus. I like it. That is a fabulous vivarium. Great work!