Croaky cacophany

This sight is quite common on my farm

The white ball of foam is put there by a female foam nesting frog.  They even climb my huge marula tree and make foamy nests over my swimming pool.

This photo was taken at what I fondly call frog pond.  This is the noisiest place on the farm on warm summer nights when hundreds of frogs get together for a musical evening.

In fact it always reminds me of this song

 

(image by Ian. N. White)The grey tree frog – more commonly referred to as the foam nest frog – is the largest of our ‘tree frogs’, with females growing to a length of around 100 mm.  The foam nest frog – chiromantis xerampelina – is confined to the northern bushveld, eastern lowveld and south through Swaziland and northern KwaZulu-Natal to the coast. These frogs are well adapted to a dry, arboreal life although they may frequently visit water to rehydrate. They will rarely be found swimming or sitting in water like many other frogs and toads but are commonly found in and around buildings where lights attract a source of insect food. With a variety of mottled patterns, they can change colour within a range of white to dark grey to match their background and are well camouflaged against tree bark. Females grow much larger and can be double the weight of males. Foam Nests The common name comes from the whitish clumps of foam that they construct as ‘nests’ in which to lay their eggs. These nests are always constructed on some branch or object over, and often many metres above, water. The females exude a sticky liquid which they kick into a froth with their back legs. Into this foam they lay up to 1000 eggs which are fertilised by, often many, attendant males. The foam prevents desiccation of the eggs and keeping eggs and small tadpoles out of water eliminates much predation. About five days after hatching the small tadpoles wriggle out of the foam to drop into the water below, where they continue to grow and complete their normal metamorphosis. (info from http://www.krugerpark.co.za) The bushveld night sounds would not be the same without our froggy friends.

Letters to nature.

botswanagallery.org

Dear Frog

Firstly I must apologise for taking so long to get you out of my toilet/septic tank.  I have not got an excuse. I am sorry. Secondly I must apologise for scaring you so often and chasing you down the pipe – it was an easy way out for me.  Thirdly, sorry for poking you a bit on Friday night during the rescue operation – it was unavoidable. If you had just sat still on the end of the coat hanger it would have made things easier for both of us.  I hear Mr Owl offers really good priced psychology sessions which you may wish to attend. I will pay your bill for you.  However, I do understand if you prefer to stay away from him given his predilection for frogs.

Please be advised to steer clear of my septic tank in future. I hope you have a happy, hoppy life ahead of you.

Kindest regards

Slowvelder

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http://www.africa24.mobi

Dear Mr Impala

I understand that your hormones are bothering you – I get it. If you want to fight all night long that is fine too, however, if you roar right next to my bedroom window at 3am again, I will come out and turn you into a pot roast….or a potjie…..or even biltong. That is if I don’t die from a heart attack first because of the horrific roar echoing through my cottage. It was 3am for goodness sake!

Please take this as a final warning.

Slowvelder

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http://www.soulshepherding.org

To:  The Weather Control Center

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for all the rain you sent at my request. I know it was almost out of season and therefore a difficult request to fulfill. Now my farm will still be green for my family to see this weekend.  Much appreciated.

Best regards

Slowvelder

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Edit:  I have to add this suggestion written and suggested by Shamballa

Dear Mr. Owl

Please note that the odd smelling thing which looks like a frog but smells a bit off, is in fact a frog. Smelly frog has suffered a tough time recently and has been “through the ringer.” Please consider giving him a pass when the smell wears off.

Also, he might have a lot to croak about in the next few days; perhaps you can give him some words of wisdom, before you are tempted to put him out of his misery.

A potty problem

Ok – so it’s not that it’s a huge problem, or something that worries me too much – or else I would have done something about it already.  It’s just been going on for so long – and my embarrassment is that I have done nothing about it.

It’s not like he is there all the time – he just pops up on occasion, and when I do see him I have other pressing issues to deal with so I just chase him away.

It’s time I got him out though.  I guess I’ll have to buy some gloves because that’s probably the easiest way to deal with him.  I could try without gloves but I think gloves would make the task a lot less yucky.

 

You see, I have a frog in my toilet.  I have guests coming in a few days so I need to get him out.  When I approach, he just dives back down the pipe so I am going to have to sneak up on him.  Sometimes I can catch him sleeping….

 

image from http://www.pinkdandelion.com

 

I wish he would just go away. I really don’t feel like doing this….

 

image from http://www.FilmoPhoto.com

 

 

Frog in your throat?

On Saturday we saw, or rather heard this snake catch a frog.  The poor frog squealed loudly for a second before he was swallowed whole. In the picture you can see that the snake has already swallowed quite a bit but there is still a foot (or other part)  sticking out of his mouth.

It is a green spotted bush snake, the very same type as the one we dealt with last summer.  If you are a long time reader you’ll remember that we first thought it was a boomslang when The Bean and I chased it around our house. Read Great snakes to hear more about that adventure.  After I published that post we were told that it was not a boomslang but a green spotted bush snake which I corrected in the following post – Mistaken identity?

The spotted bush snake (Philothamnus semivariegatus)

This snake can be found in variable colours, but most of the time bright green to darker green above. As you can see in this photo, the snake has spots or crossbars on the front half of the body. These spots or crossbars sometimes become very faint. The back half of the body is usually plain. The snake’s belly is yellowish to greenish-white and has distinctive keeled ventral scales which helps this snake to climb. Some specimens have bronze or brownish colouring on the dorsal parts and some have a bluish tint, but most are green. Adults can reach lengths of up to 1,3 meters. The spotted bush snake has a round black pupil with an orange iris. This is a diurnal snake and has a very unusual coloured tongue which is bright blue with a black tip.

It is an excellent climber and can be found in bushes, trees, on walls or even gliding in between the cracks of bricks. When this snake is disturbed, it will move away fast and in short bursts to the nearest cover. If it is cornered or when it turns defensive, it will inflate its neck like some other snakes and the blue skin in between the scales will be visible. This makes it look more dangerous, almost like a Boomslang. It bites readily if you try to catch it. (Now you tell me!)

This snake is almost always mistaken for a Boomslang. Although there are many differences, they both can be seen in trees and both are green. The spotted bush snake is harmless to humans, but often killed by us, because of this confusion.

Their main enemies are cats, predatory birds and other snakes, as well as humansand it mainly feeds on geckos, but frogs and chameleons are also taken.