The Star of Our Post – Photo: L. Weikel
The Tiniest Green Frog
On our walk today, Spartacus and I met the next star of her own storybook. Meet the tiniest green frog in Tinicum Township.
It was a fluke that I even noticed her. Hanging out at the edge of the road, I’m not sure what she was contemplating. Why didn’t she just go the extra jump and put herself back into the swampy roadside gloop created by last night’s rainstorm? Were there bullies among the slimy bubbles?
What possessed her to risk it all when we approached, holding still while the Two-legged Giant and Four-legged Sniffer got closer and closer? It’s clear she had the advantage of surprise, yet she didn’t use it. Instead the tiny tadger permitted photographs and comparisons, musings and speculations.
Perhaps she was trying to break out of the mold of her foremothers and forefathers. Strike out on a different career path than the ancestors before her. Prove to herself that she wouldn’t be pigeon-holed by The Man’s ideas of what Green Frogs are capable of achieving.
Smaller Than a Thumbdrive – Photo: L. Weikel
We’ll Never Know
She held her tongue. Little Miss Green Frog was as tight-lipped as she was tiny. Indeed, she was trying to pass as a Bullfrog, which made me laugh, but not impolitely. (Spartacus snickered but stopped when I gave him the Look.)
The thing is, see, she didn’t realize that I cannot be fooled. I have access to Pennsylvania’s finest herpetological sleuthing tool, PA Herp Identification. And I’m dedicated. I compared Bullfrogs to Green Frogs and her glandular folds were the tell that told the tale. At least they told part of the story.
Where she was going and why – being far and away the tiniest Green Frog in Tinicum Township – is a mystery that will have to be solved another day.
In the meantime, take a look at just how teeny tiny – yet perfectly formed, and without even the hint of a juvenile tail to boot – this princess was.
Not a Fearful Bone in Her Body – Photo: L. Weikel
(T-159)