Wednesday 28 August 2013

It's not easy being green ...

.... you run quite a risk of getting quished!

Morning!
One morning earlier this week, while Niall was having a cup of coffee, this very green little frog emerged from the parasol stand we have at the front of the house.

A snug fit
The parasol pole it holds is an old model and much thinner than the stand so we use the little clamp to wedge it as securely as possible. This is by no means perfect and the little green frog was very lucky indeed! It stayed around long enough for Niall to get the camera and take a few photos before jumping down and disappearing behind the pots where it's nicely dark and damp.
Ribbit!
We did some searching on the internet and checked with friends who know about these things and our guest was an European tree frog [Hyla arborea]. Online information states that females have white-ish coloured throats while a male's is golden brown. Females are also slightly larger. Based on that information it looks as if we had a lady visitor. Their diet includes spiders, flies, beetles, butterflies, and smooth caterpillars.

16 comments:

ladybird said...

Funny you should post about a frog today. There was a bit of upheaval yesterday in Belgium when a university student found a life frog (it was actually a young toad) in a bag of pre-packed lettuce. He noticed the animal while eating his steak/lettuce/potato dinner. Btw, he set it free, just like you did, but only after showing it to the press.:)
Thanks for the lovely photos!

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Martine - We'd be not a little stunned to find a live toad [or frog] in one of our salad bags too!!

The tree frog popping out of the parasol base was a 'surprise' enough :-)

rusty duck said...

What a cute little frog..
Lucky frog and lucky spot.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Rusty - lucky indeed! Down in the parasol stand must have seemed like a nice spot to spend the night.

Tim said...

Rollicking little Rainette you have there!

At least the toad in the salad bag proved that it was fresh!!
Now everyone will be wanting one as provenance....

the fly in the web said...

I wonder what snacks she found to her liking in your parasol stand...she might have had a lucky escape...ours used to nip your fingers as you closed it.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Tim - now there's a thought! LOL

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Fly - no idea, the odd little spider?

She was very lucky as the parasol does tend to 'wallow' a bit in the stand despite the clamp.

MorningAJ said...

What a lovely little beastie she is! I'm glad she didn't get squished. And I hope she manages a whole lot of tadpoles in the near future.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@AJ - so do we. These wee frogs aren't that unusual but we go get more toads than frogs -- not having a pond. Still there is a large pond at a nearby farm.

Craig said...

She's a beauty! Do frogs have 9 lives (like cats)? If so, I think she's down to 8!

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Craig - We think this one might :-)

Perpetua said...

Well spotted and lucky little frog. What a gorgeous colour she is.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Perpetua - and the photo doesn't even do her justice!

Jean said...

I can't help wondering what such a cute little creature was doing in there! She was quite the little adventurer.
"Oh look, here's a long dark tube, I'll just crawl inside and see what's in there..............."

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Jean - Niall was completely amazed and had exactly the same reaction.

When I asked Susan about it she indicated that it wasn't that odd - so I guess we'll have to keep an eye out!