Frog Addiction

by Helen Woodall
Hello, my name is Helen and I’m addicted to frogs. But no thank you, I am not looking for a 12-step plan to overcome my addiction. I love my froggies, all 200+ of them.

Do I hear you asking why? Just look at the smile on the green tree frog’s face. How can that not make you smile too?

And although green is my favorite color—green for frog!—whatever your color scheme or favorite color, they match!

But apart from the sheer cuteness and lovability factor, frogs are a vital part of our ecosystems. They are bioindicators. Because of their permeable skin, once frogs get sick it means the environment is sick. Toxic substances have entered their skin and will harm humans too. As well as that, they keep our lakes and rivers clean by eating algae, they eat insects that are harmful to humans, such as malarial mosquitoes and flies that carry germs. Really, they are all-round good guys and if your frog population starts to die off, it’s time to start panicking.

Fun facts: The smallest frog is the critically endangered Cuban frog Eleutherodactylus iberia. These frogs measure only 10 mm (0.4 in) when fully grown. The biggest frog is the Goliath Frog Conraua goliath, which lives in western Africa. They can grow to be over 30 cm (1 ft) long, and weigh over 3 kg (6.6 lbs). This species is also endangered.

You can see some Australian frogs here:
http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&rlz=1R2GGHP_enAU364&q=australian+frogs&wrapid=tlif12878803228571&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=jn7DTIf-F4-CvgPLup2gCA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CDwQsAQwAg&biw=881&bih=560

And to help save frogs throughout the world go to: http://savethefrogs.com/