Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Rain and Frog

Tonight, I drove to work in a pounding, torrential rain. The local traffic and weather reports largely consisted of dire flash flood warnings and tales of brave Ulysses roads closed due to high water. When I got to work, I found this handsome critter outside the building which houses my office:




That, my dear friends, is a fine specimen of the American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). This particular beast is about size of my not inconsequential fist. The American bullfrog eats just about anything it can cram into its sizable mouth, including other bullfrogs. A less focused but brighter photo shows its coloration to good effect, and reveals the creature's pretty eyes:




We have a pond on the premises which is basically a singles bar for bullfrogs, their amorous calls have been a constant soundtrack for the last couple of weeks on the job. Tonight, with the rain that we've been having, the whole property is kinda like a pond, which explains why this critter has been sitting outside the main entrance to the building. I sure am glad I'm not smurf-sized.

9 comments:

mikey said...

If you lick his skin you'll see colors that don't occur in nature.

Umm, I think it's these ones...

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Nah, this is a strictly non-psychoactive amphibian.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I take it the club is usually jumpin'.
~

OBS said...

Do I get bonus points for knowing that's a link to the Cream song without clicking? All this useless information floating around in my brain has got to be good for something one of these days.

John Going Gently said...

Love your previous selfie... You look dead hard!
( hard means touch in Wales)

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

I take it the club is usually jumpin'.

Thunder knows his ponds!

Do I get bonus points for knowing that's a link to the Cream song without clicking? All this useless information floating around in my brain has got to be good for something one of these days.

I thought it was a link to Richard Lattimore's "Odyssey" translation. Silly me!

Love your previous selfie... You look dead hard!
( hard means touch in Wales)


Thanks! I'm not as wimpy as I look!

M. Bouffant said...

An Odyssey reversed if you're going to the wars rather than heading home.

Cheri @ Blog This Mom!® said...

"a singles bar for bullfrogs"

Awesome!

(I followed your link from Doves Today.)

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

An Odyssey reversed if you're going to the wars rather than heading home.

In other words, an Iliad.

(I followed your link from Doves Today.)

Thanks! Aunt Snow's readers are always welcome.