This blog entry is dedicated to amphibians – frogs to be exact. And why not? Afterall, 2008 has been dubbed The Year of the Frog. Major companies are devoting marketing campaigns to raise awareness of the plight of frogs as a result of worldwide environmental degradation.
Tonight I went for my evening jog in Rock Creek Park and was serenaded by the basoon-esque croak of several bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana, probably would have made an attempt to catch them too, were it not for my fear of the fierce allergic reaction I have to the poison ivy lining the banks of the creek.
Sexy and Barry White-sounding as they are, however, the bullfrog is certainly not my favorite amphibian. That would be the canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor, the cliff-climbing little frog I’m about to get re-aquainted with in Parunuweap in three weeks. The first time I heard a chorus of tree frogs in the canyon I thought some local boysouts had smuggled rivet guns on their camping trip. Click here for a sneak preview of our bedtime lullaby.
Everyone should have a favorite frog!