Reptile Watch

NOTHING is quite as startling as almost stepping on a large snake. This 4' black rat snake slithered out of its hole in the bank of the Chattahoochee River and moseyed along the water's edge for a while. But it wasn't the only slithery creature we've seen recently.

This smaller snake was about 18" long. We spotted it in the woods by a different stretch of the river.

Northern Water Snakes and Slider Turtles abounded at the school picnic, causing delight among the children and reactions ranging from mild interest to terror in parents.

But impressive though the larger creatures were, it was a tiny baby frog that really captured the children's attention.

The Great Tadpole Release

SEVERAL months ago, the children and I came across tadpoles during a walk by the river, and brought some home with us. The kitchen sideboard was the only Alexander-proof place for our open-topped aquarium... until he learned how to climb on a stool. Then the tadpoles endured a rigourous training in evasive action. The predator could strike at any time, and their only hope lay in the predator's mother catching him on the sideboard. A few months down the road, each time we returned home, we checked anxiously to make sure the tadpoles hadn't set off on the great escape. They all had four legs, and the tails of two of them were getting smaller and smaller. It was time to take them home. So we trekked to the stream where we had found them, said thank you for allowing us to watch them grow, then said goodbye. They didn't swim at all at first, and I was concerned we had released them to their doom, but after a short walk we returned and found them happily paddling about.

Goodbye Froglets

IT is time to say goodbye to our tadpoles - now froglets. It has been amazing to watch them grow. Not all of them have legs at this point, but the largest has both front and back legs. The back legs developed gradually, from little lumps to paddle-like protrusions. Then they took on the characteristic frog shape and we could even see the feet. Most incredible however were the front legs. Emma and I noticed one evening that the largest tadpole had bumps behind its gills, and we wondered if these would become front legs. The very next morning, he had front legs, complete with knees (elbows?) and feet! Imagine waking up to that? You can see in the picture how their shape changes too, from a little round blob to a distinct head and body. Next the tail will shrink, then it is absorbed back into the body. How amazing is that?

We will be releasing them into a nearby pond. Hopefully they do not become lunch to the next predator.

Tadpoles

ON one of our weekend jaunts to a little-used river beach, we noticed tadpoles milling around in the shallows of a feeder stream. On an impulse, we decided to take some home to watch them develop. I later regretted this, thinking we were dooming the poor creatures to an early demise. But caught up in the moment, we improvised with available equipment and had great fun trying to catch some of the wiggly little swimmers. At home we set to work creating a home for our new friends. (The adventure of collecting additional streamwater from a nearby creek is a story for another day.) Apparently tadpoles like to eat lettuce, so that is what we've been feeding them for over two weeks, and to my surprise and delight, they are still alive and seem to be a little bigger, though no sign of legs yet.

While researching books on the topic of tadpoles and frogs, I came across the 19th century author Katharine Pyle and her collection of stories and verses: Prose and Verse for Children. It includes a lovely story about a tadpole who wants to sing, called More Ways Than One. With the help of a lizard the tadpole tries all kinds of things to become a bird so that he can sing, until finally the wise old crawfish tells him he is a frog and he hops off to join the chorus. After all, there's more than one way to sing.