Talking with the toads

G'head!
Call me Dr. Doolittle.
Or perhaps the frog whisperer.
Fact is, this evening I met a little toad prince.
More like a bull frog prince, actually.
And we talked.
Seriously!
My family as my witness.
This is how it went down.

We were on an evening walk through our local park. Reece wanted to check on the tadpoles we spotted last week, to see how much they had grown. Sadly, we checked multiple spots along the algae-laden pond but saw nary a one. While everyone was searching the south end of the pond, I ventured off to the north, lured by a noise I thought to be a woodpecker. It started ever so slowly and built to a crescendo of chatter that truly sounded like the pecking of wood.

Only...

It was coming from the edge of the pond not five feet from where I was standing. Curiously, I moved in for a closer look. Nothing. And yet, when I back away, there it was again. I moved in. It stopped. I looked. Nothing. I backed away. It resumed. Hmmmm!

Now, I know this next part is going to sound crazy. Fact is, I've always been a little "off beat" when it comes to my interactions with nature. I found it beautiful when I spotted a dead leaf swirling around in a mud puddle on a damp, gray, windy day. I took it upon my self to rescue newborn kittens from the scorching pavement of my apartment complex in San Francisco, risking attack by their protective but helpless mother. I coaxed a wild squirrel to feed out of my hand in our backyard as a pre-teen, by chattering to it while holding a handful of nuts (and it attempted to bite me before scurrying away, thankfully only grazing the skin of my hand.)

I could go on, but the point is, today I talked with a baby bullfrog. Now I know you think, "Girlfriend done lost her mind." Now if you're thinking this because I attempted to talk to a frog, well then,...maybe. But if you're thinking that the frog and I didn't actually converse and that it was all in my head? Well,...you're just wrong. Oh, yes you are.
Because we did.
Yes, seriously.
When I couldn't figure out what the wood pecking noise was, I mimicked what I heard. I made a series of clicking noises with my tongue, building in crescendo as I had heard "it" do. And almost immediately, there it was. The noise. AND the baby bullfrog. His chatter lead me to spot him sitting in the mud at the edge of the pond. He faced me and chattered away. And every time he got silent, I returned his chatter. And,...I'm so very serious here...every time I filled the silence by beginning to chatter, he began again.

My entire family watched this interaction with great interest and wonder. It was nothing short of beautiful. Okay, perhaps what I experienced as beautiful, you might just think is weird. But it wasn't. Weird. One of God's tiniest creatures sat on the edge of a local pond, allowing us to come so very close as he exchanged chatter with me. What were the chances? I truly love such exchanges with nature. Did I mention how much I miss the country? ;)

And to top it off, we saw a doe out in the open as we walked. She hugged the treeline for a good 30 feet before making her exit into the forest. And not 15 minutes later, we climbed a hill and spotted two young buck with velvet on their antlers, along with a doe, all feeding in the field about 20 yards ahead of us.
I don't carry my camera when we walk, so you'll just have to take my word for it. As nature sightings go, it was a banner day!

Toni