Lucky's Pond

(This is a pretty long story but it's a lot of fun and I hope you'll read it!! :) I would like all of you to meet my new friend, Lucky! He is the last survivor from our seasonal pond, which is, as of today, dry. For the past month, I've been watching the level of our little pond go down as the rain has dropped off and stopped altogether. Last week the level was so low you had to go down and look to find it. A couple of days ago I looked and saw that yes...there were still tadpoles swimming around in the shrinking puddle, but they weren't big enough to leave the water yet. I fretted. I felt sad. Yes, I understand that this happens every year, and it's nature's way to make sure the frogs who mate first will have a better chance of their offspring surviving. But darn it...I love the little guys. It breaks my heart every year when I know the pond is drying up and countless little "woggy's" will die. Last night I dreamed about the pollywogs all night long. And this morning I made a decision when I got up. I was going to march down to the pond, and if there was any water left, I would save every pollywog I could catch. So, I went down to see, and I was really worried...it was hot yesterday and the water might all be gone. But I bravely went to look. To my surprised joy, there was about two gallons of muddy water left, with lots of pollywogs trying to keep wet. They shared space with other critters too--water boatsmen, some beetles and other animals too. I came ready to save them, with a 5-gallon bucket half full of water, on our hand truck so I could bring them up to the house. I used a fish net on a long handle and began scooping them from the mucky water...SO MANY BABIES!!! Dozens and dozens of squirming tadpoles and into the bucket they went. I got as many as I could and also got lots of their mud too. I put the lid on and trudged up our road to the house, where I had a plastic kiddy pool waiting with fresh water in it, ready to be the new pond! I carefully poured the bucket into the pool and washed the mud in as well. WHEEEEEE!!!!! Happy little swimmers EVERYWHERE!!! I think there must be over 100 babies in various stages of development, and it was an incredible feeling to see them able to swim in a nice amount of water again. The water skeeters were skeetering, the beetles were beetling...err...swimming around, and I felt really, really good about my decision to save them. I went inside and asked Steve to come out to see a surprise, and he chuckled when he saw what I'd done, but with big smiles, we watched the little guys having a nice time, and then he said, "Hey, let's add an air stone to make sure they have lots of oxygen in the water!" A few minutes later we had a power cord running over to the pond and bubbles dancing merrily away and giving some nice circulation to the water as well. I wasn't done though. After breakfast I went down to see if I could gather the ones I didn't catch the first time around, and came back to the house with dozens more, and confident that I probably got them all. Tonight, at about 6 or so, I filled a little bowl with water and went back down for one last check. As I thought, the pond was dry. All that was left was soft mud. And...one last pollywog laying on the mud. I rushed over and gently picked him up, cooing sadly because he was dead for sure. I put him in the water because I didn't know what else to do. What do you know? He wiggled his little tail and swam around in a circle and then up to the surface for a bubble of air before sinking down to the bottom again to rest in relief. HOORAY for Lucky!!!! :D I nearly danced with joy with a tear in my eye! Up to the house we went, with me smiling all the way and watching him swim around. I brought him up to our office to introduce Steve to Lucky, who was very happy to hear our story. And finally, Lucky and I went to the new pond and I poured him and his water into the pool, where he joined all of his friends! What a very nice day. :) (And thank you for taking the time to read my story!) For the continuing story, jump forward to November and read about Lucky's Porta-Pond! By the way, I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

Please listen to this song on YouTube for background music! :D Under The Sea: Little Mermaid This is the first of my daily tadpole updates! Things are just WONDERFUL at Lucky's Pond! :D There are countless tadpoles having a wonderful time there, and all the other critters I managed to catch are doing fine as well. I visit several times a day, sitting at the side of the pool and watching them do their thing. I watch them eat fish flakes that I sprinkle on the surface once a day and look to see how many tadpoles I can find that have legs, and who is big enough to climb onto the rocks yet (at least 5!) It's bliss for me because I love frogs and I've never had the chance to enjoy the transformation of tadpole to frog before! WHAT FUN! :) This is a picture of the air stone sending up bubbles and causing a gentle current that flows slowly around the pool. The bubbles attract the tadpoles, who swim to the bubbles and find themselves lifted to the surface of the water before they turn and swim down again. To me, it looks like they should all be squealing, "WHEEEEE!!!!!" :D

Yesterday morning, I went down to the dried up pond to see what was there. I was very happy to see lots of extremely tiny (1/4") frogs hopping around! They should be just fine. They will be able to eat gnats and other insects flying around the dried mud, and they can burrow into the mud and dirt when it's hot. Every morning they'll get moisture from the dew. They'll soon hop away from the pond and grow into full-sized Pacific Tree Frogs! I took a bunch of pictures to share, and even got a picture of one that still had part of its tail left! Aren't they adorable?!!

(If you want to know about Lucky, please visit this picture and read the story! :) My Friend Lucky Lucky and his friends are happy and healthy in their new home, and I find myself visiting several times a day just to sit and chuckle at all the little tadpoles swimming around. Here are three of them at the side of the pool, nibbling at stuff I can't see, probably microscopic algae. (please forgive the mess--when transplanting the tadpoles, I brought a bunch of mud too, because it's full of food they eat. It's not pretty but it's part of a pond ecosystem! :) Most--if not all--of the tadpoles that I rescued will be Pacific Tree Frogs. We may have another type of frog but probably not, since the tadpoles are almost all the same size and the other frog possibility is larger. We also have toads on the property, but none of the tadpoles are massive--believe me, if you saw a toad tadpole for the first time next to a frog tadpole, you'd be amazed...they're enormous! The change from tadpole to frog normally takes between 2 and 2.5 months, but some tadpoles delay this metamorphosis, taking as long as 5 months to change into a frog! I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

(If you want to know about Lucky, please visit this picture and read the story! :) My Friend Lucky I'd like to start of by saying that is is probably one of my all-time favorite pictures! I am a hopeless sucker for anything cute, and I adore frogs. What could be more adorable than this?!! Here is a tadpole that's turning into a frog and pushing itself up out of the water as it learns to breathe air and hold its body up! It's so tiny that most of its body isn't breaking the resistance of the water, which is forming a clear film "skirt" around it. And it still has a round tadpole face with such a funny expression! There's even a reflection. This picture makes me happy! :) Tadpoles begin growing their hind legs first, and then their front legs begin to bulge where their gill pouches are. At the same time, the gills are being replaced by lungs; as the gills disappear, the arms pop out, elbows first! (I will be giving tidbits of information about the metamophosis of tadpole to frog with each picture, so stay tuned for the next part tomorrow!)

--- Taking the day off, will be back tomorrow!! :D -- (If you want to know about Lucky, please visit this picture and read the story! :) My Friend Lucky Can you say cute?!! I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible to take a bad picture of a developing frog! :D I've been having such fun with these little guys and I have lots and lots of pictures to share in the coming days! This one is another one of my favorites! :) This morning when I went out to say hi to the tadpole kids, I was surprised to find a garter snake hanging out right next to the pool. It didn't disappear into the grass, but sat there for several moments looking at me curiously before finally going into a hole nearby. I have a feeling that it's been snacking on exuberant froglets who are probably hopping around the area. Oh well, the clever ones will make it and the really smart ones will stay in the pool until they're full-sized! Did you know that tadpoles are herbivores and frogs are carnivores?! Tadpoles have completely different mouths with tooth-like projections in their small jaws. They scrape algae off rocks and also eat plant matter that they find. (They also love the fish food flakes that I feed them!) As they change from a tapole into a frog, their jaws will enlarge and they'll grow real teeth. (More fun facts, another update and a new picture tomorrow! I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

(If you want to know about Lucky, please visit this picture and read the story! :) My Friend Lucky This picture reminds me of illustrations of evolution that show prehistoric fish crawling onto land 400 million years ago. Those fish would eventually evolve into amphibeans 100 million years later! I can't even begin to get my mind around that number, can you? In any event, this little Lucky is doing a great job looking the part of Evolution! :) Every day there are more tadpoles crawling up onto the rocks, and there are a few without any tails now!! YAY!! It takes 6-9 weeks for most tadpoles to transform into frogs, but some tadpoles delay this metamorphosis for at long as 6 months if it's too late in the year. The increasingly cold water triggers their body to overwinter as a tadpole, and finish their transformation when the water begins to warm up to the right temperature. Isn't that amazing?! The glucose (sugar) in their bloodstream acts like antifreeze, and in the case of most frog species, they are able to overwinter in ponds as long as the mud where they hibernate doesn't completely freeze. Unlike our Pacific Tree Frogs, the Wood Frog can become mostly frozen and its heart will actually stop beating! When the temperature warms up and they thaw out, its heart will begin beating again and it will be fine!! Incredible! More fun froggy facts tomorrow, along with another picture from Lucky's Pond! :) By the way, I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

(If you want to know about Lucky, please visit this picture and read the story! :) My Friend Lucky The other night I went out with a flashlight to see how the gang was doing, and was surprised to find countless froglets sitting on the rocks and on the walls of the pool! I was so enchanted by their cuteness...and hoped they would forgive me because the next thing I knew, I ran inside, put our flash setup on my camera and went out again for some pictures! I love how this pair seem to be looking out in wonder, thinking about what will come next in their lives. :) When tadpoles go through their final transformation into frogs, the following things happen over the course of 2-10 days: • Their gills disappear and their lungs finish developing. • The front legs pop out where the gill pouch was. • Their small jaws and round mouth change into large jaws with a big mouth and real teeth. • Their digestive tract changes from a long herbavore spiral gut to the short gut of a predator. • Their eyes change and move up higher on their head and get eyelids. • They form skin glands and thicker skin. • They develop eardrums. Aren't you glad you don't have to go through metamorphosis?!!! WOW! Isn't that incredible?!! More fun froggy facts tomorrow, along with another picture from Lucky's Pond! :) By the way, I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

(If you want to know about Lucky, please visit this picture and read the story! :) My Friend Lucky It's hard for me to resist taking pictures at Lucky's Pond all day long because these little guys are hopelessly adorable no matter what they're doing, but I'm afraid I'd fill my entire hard drive up with images! As it is, I've got lots and lots to share! Here's Lucky playing "King of the Island," and I'm sure that right before I got here he was shoving everyone off so he could retain his title! :D (By the way, everyone at Lucky's Pond is named Lucky! :D) When tadpoles go through the final change into a frog, they stop eating while their mouths, jaws and face changes shape. While this is happening, they also begin to reabsorb their tail, and this is thought to give them energy while they aren't eating! That's really cool, and it's so cute to see their tails shrinking!! :D