Holocaust of the Frogs

With both Brandy and I working and being super busy, we had let the pool go a bit. It had been nice and blue and perfect three weeks earlier, but it had turned green andsuch by this weekend. It was definately time for a cleaning. We may eventually get a service to come in and do it periodically, but for now we are doing it ourselves. Well, OK, mainly Brandy is doing it. Anyway, Brandy was getting ready to start the cleaning process, including dumping like 10 gallons of chlorine in the pool when she yelled “Oh no! Tadpoles!”

And sure enough, there were tadpoles in the pool. Dozens and dozens and dozens of them. Which is not surprising. Before we moved in, when the pool was wrecked it had completely gone wild and was basically a pond. I ahd seen tadpoles in there, and a whole generation of frogs was born there. A week before they did the final cleaning before we bought the place I had seen a bunch of nearly frog tadpoles obviously about to leave the pool. And every time we get a heavy rain, the frogs all sit around the pool and croak at each other and occationally do um, cough, other things. Perhaps they come back to where they were born to spawn.

In any case, the tadpoles made Brandy even more urgent to clean the pool. Meanwhile, I was all about saving the tadpoles. So while Brandy started scrubbing the pool and stuff, witholding the cholorine for the time being, I got a spare aquarium and went about trying to save as many baby frogs as I could. I basically got all the ones that came close enough to the surface to grab without getting into the pool. Grab with a cup that is, not with my hands. They were tiny little things. Maybe only an eighth of an inch or so.

Anyway, over the course of about half an hour, I caught perhaps 30 of them. I got all that I could possibly get. And before Brandy finally put the baby frog killing chlorine poison into the pool, I did another sweep and got a few more that I had missed. I have no doubt that many frogs died in this tragedy, probably many more than I could save, but I have a good 30 of them in the aquarium sitting outside on the lanai.

Well, OK, once yesterday I had Princely tied up too close to it, and he decided to take a drink out of the tadpole water… he may have gotten a couple. I hope not, but I do not know.

Anyway, they are growing fast. They are now probably more like a quarter inch. Maybe slightly longer. I will probably have to move some of them into a seperate container soon, or they will get too crouded.

I thought I saw a dead onethe other day, but now I can’t find it. So maybe it was just sleeping. Or maybe the others ate it. Do tadpoles eat each other? Somehow I can’t think of Kermit doing that, so I’ll say no.

Anyway, so far so good. Those frogs that managed to get on “Minter’s List” who escaped the poison are doing well so far. I don’t imagine all of them will make it. But I’ll try my best. Well, aside from being gone for four days next week and the fact I only check on them five minutes a day and they are outside in an open container and such.

But I’ll do my best. I gave them algae tavlets to eat. They seemed to like that. And they go after the occational fly that lands in their water.

We’ll see. I may end up with 30 frogs before too long.

They are very cute.

Oh. And the pool is clear and blue and beautiful again.

In plenty of time for swimming this weekend.