Mr. Bullfrog

There have almost always been a few bullfrogs hanging around our fish ponds. I don't know for sure where they come from, but I suspect that somehow at night they hop their way from the nearby lake, through the swampy, forested area behind our property and then when they hear the waterfalls and fountains in the ponds decide to make themselves a new home.

One that I'll always remember was “Bud” who we named for the Budweiser frogs commercials. When he showed up one spring Bud was already a full grown bullfrog, and after a summer diet of bugs, snakes and other unfortunate, smaller frogs he grew into truly gigantic proportions. He was king of the pond and on sunny days when he felt the need to soak up some rays he ruled his little kingdom from a rock that caught the morning sun.

Bud was not above eating the smaller goldfish, and once I took a picture of him with a fish in his mouth and I swear, a guilty look on his face. He and a couple of smaller frogs, were welcome residents of the pond for several years, hibernating in the leaves and gunk that accumulated on the bottom during the winter and coming forth like Lazarus in the spring.

Then for some reason the frogs disappeared and we really missed watching them. The first thing the grand kids would ask when they came to visit was, “Where's Bud? Where are the frogs?”

This spring a lone bullfrog bravely came to visit. Who knows what dangers he faced traveling on his perilous journey to our little pond.

We first became aware of him when we'd let the dogs out and they'd race to the edge of the pond, followed by a splash as the frog dove to safety. Then we began spotting him trying to get some sun on the edge of the pond before the dogs could chase him back into the water.

One day I noticed Taz busy doing something by the pond and I was amazed to see him nudging the frog with his nose. The stubborn frog wasn't about to give up his sunny spot and Taz turned, looked at me, and cocked his head as if to say” What's the matter with this frog? Isn't he supposed to be afraid of me?”

Lately Mr. Bullfrog spends his days on the stepping stones beside our fish pond and the dogs have to really startle him to get him to jump. When he does crawl back out of the water he has a royally pissed off look on his face.