Frog Parking Only -- All Others Will Be Toad

Steinbeck’s book, Cannery Row, contained an endearing story line about Mack and his buddies who chug on over to the Carmel Valley river to collect a passel of frogs for one of Doc’s experiments. Great merriment ensued when they found a pond filled with frogs and, in their own inimitable way, proceeded to collect them. The sequence was hilarious and I oftentimes recommended the book to friends on their way to the area for its historic value in addition to its entertainment. I first read the story in high school, read it again, with much more appreciation, when preparing for my first visit to Monterey and the Carmel Valley, and wondered about the frogs while dining at the local  restaurants; it was so well written and so funny, but what I always assumed was poetic license on Steinbeck’s part, turned out to be true. Had I known how true, I would have invited someone of Mack’s ilk to our pond.

Green frogs were, and still are, everywhere this summer. Everywhere. Initially, I didn’t understand how there came to be such a profusion of frogs but, apparently their proliferation had to do with all the rain last spring. Green frogs breed from April to August in fresh water. Did I say breed? I meant wild Bacchanalian toga parties. We had plenty of rain so there’s a lot of fresh water. If we had paid attention in science class we would have learned that males call their “ribbit” as a single note, but each evening (frogs 'party' at night), there is a panoply of noise coming from the pond, so I can only believe that a regular sexual rampage is taking place out there. Technically, the female releases her eggs while the male simultaneously releases sperm which swim to the egg mass. Fertilization takes place in the water. It’s the underwater version of the birds and the bees. A single egg clutch may consist of 1000 to 7000 eggs. It appears that frogs are the rabbits of the water world. They swim and grow, from tadpole to frog, from swim to hop. And hop they do, onto the banks of the pond. They look so much like the surrounding greenery that they are virtually impossible to detect until I step near one, or on one. First it croaks and jumps, then I croak and jump, trip and generally scare the crap out of myself. They aren’t pretty, which adds to the excitement, and no, I will never kiss one to see what happens. I have my Prince Scott, thank you.

That said, they generally keep to themselves anyway. They usually do not wander far from home so while I would expect to have a frog sighting near the pond, ordinarily I did not see them elsewhere, until this year. This year, they have not kept to themselves but have chosen to broaden their horizons to a greater extent than we mortals can handle. I was at the local greenhouse nursery looking at a bushy plant that I might possibly purchase when a frog hopped out of the pot. Both the proprietor and I jumped and, sadly, the pot was lost. Another afternoon, as I walked down the drive to collect the mail, I noticed a couple of little frogs hopping by the side of the road. While I waited for the car to pass before crossing the road, the frogs did not. Crossed frog legs now mark the spot. On another occasion, I jumped in the pool and found myself sharing it with three more frogs, which caused me to levitate out of the pool.  They have their own pond, why are they jumping into my pool. Is there a death wish? Suicide by chlorine? Adult green frogs are highly aquatic; they stay in their pond, but juveniles will sometimes travel overland, especially in the predawn hours, when the soil and grass are covered with dew, they merrily hop about the endless wet lawn. After a short while (frogs can jump high, but their endurance is low), they tire, then, hungry and distracted, they become disoriented. By now the sun is shimmering on the pool, so in they jump. And later out I jump.

Green frogs, however maligned, do have value. They will attempt to eat any mouth-sized animal they can capture, including insects, bugs, fireflies, spiders, minnow fish, crayfish, shrimp, other frogs, tadpoles, small snakes, birds, snails and my toes. Thankfully August is about to come to an end. Frog legs anyone?