Friday, October 29, 2010

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/

13 comments:

Unknown said...

I never really gave frogs much thought until joining the frog pond. Now they've kinda grown on me. :)

Jan Springer said...

LOL. Guess what? I love frogs too!

But I don't have a huge collection like yours. Just a few who sit out on my back patio during the summer decorating my flowers...but they are in the shed now for the winter. :-)

Love your frogs!

jan

ClothDragon said...

I don't have a frog collection, but I have a friend whose online identity is Princess Froglips and I love the frog she made for her banner.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/princessfroglips

Scarlett Knight said...

Fellow frog collector here! They are the cutest little guys! I never knew how good for the environment they were before now, though. That's pretty neat.

STORIDIVA said...

No, I'm not surprised that the frog mama blogged about the lil "Ribbits". She loves them.

We had a huge blug frog living in the pond in front of our house but he left when we filled it in.. then came back and hung out under the Japanese Maple.

Thanks Helen...

Helen W said...

Hi Amber - frogs rule!
Hi Jan - so glad you love frogs!
Hi ClothDragon - I must meet your friend - she's obviously an excellent person!
Hi Scarlett - you rule too!
Hi StoriDiva - so glad your froggie came back and stayed with you!
Helen

Kathy Kulig said...

Quite clever guys, those frogs. I remember a big, fat bull frog that lived by the lake near me. As kids we used to slosh around in the swampy part of the lake trying to catch him. Never did. We named him Hamburger.

Marianne Stephens said...

I learned some new facts about frogs. Don't think I want to meet up with a one-foot frog anytime soon!
And, you "collect" us "froggies", too!

jean hart stewart said...

Love the one with the bright red eyes. Makes me wonder if he drinks something beside pond water!

Unknown said...

Frogs are very cute. My favorite is the singing frog from all the old Waner Bros. cartoons.

Helen W said...

Hi Kathy, Marianne, Jean and Georgie.
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your froggie stories.
Helen

Unknown said...

Wow, thats intresting

Helen W said...

Thanks for visiting Skydragon
Helen