Little Frog (With Black Stripes Over Eyes)

I found this frog under a brush pile when I was out playing in the rain. Does anyone know if this is a tree frog? It's very small and fast, with a black stripe crossing over both eyes and a white line at the lips. It's legs are striped but it's body really is not (it's vaguely spotted).

Totally cute.

xoxoxo

Orange Salamander with Black Spots

Orange (some may call it red). Black spots. It speaks for itself.

Read more about North Carolina salamanders HERE.

Xoxoxox

I Found A Turtle In The Road...

....and jammed on the brakes of my Jimmy GMC to pick it up. I jumped out the truck and ran backwards to the turtle, grabbed it, then ran back to my truck and put it in a box to bring back to my pond at the Luck Cabin. Safe and far away from any busy roads!

I hadn't seen any box turtles at my pond yet (only two snapping turtles just this week) - and had been wishing for some turtles to come hang around. :)

I waited behind some tall ferns for Lil' Boxy to pop out it's head and check out the cool place it now could live.... I sensed a look of approval and appraisal.

A whole pond to itself to start a family! Yay!

XOXoxox

Do Tadpoles Get THIS BiG?!

um, what the hec? I have tadpoles in my pond that are bigger then most frogs!?!! This big honkin' tadpole pictured above is at least 4-5 inches long, and let's just say it's head is huge/wide. And I have seen others like this so big I thought they were funny tailed fish.

See in the picture below, there are some grown normal sized tadpoles in the upper right hand corner, and in the lower left hand corner the dark shadow making a ripple in the water is the giant tadpole! That big one could eat the others for a lite snack!!!
Have ya'll ever seen or heard of these ginormous tadpoles?
xoxox

(Partial) Life Cycle Of The Tadpole

It's cool when nature let's us see the process of conception to birth right through the clear water... unlike a human embryo/fetus which will always have the air of mystery blanketed by a belly- even with our fancy ultra sound.

I have been watching the tadpoles in the pond closely - from being just dots in the bubbles, to when the bubbles began to look melted and the tadpoles kinda poke around in the goo...
And now they have big fat heads, long skinny tails which will soon turn into tiny feet made for hopping! They are able to swim around in their tadpole herd and move from spot to spot freely because all the bubble goop is gone. They wade in the most shallow part of the water still though - I haven't seen anyone stray from the group.
The frogs they will become are really freaking huge... One big guy in the pond is so large that when he jumps into the water the splash is so belly-floppin' hard that the water has hit me in the face from up to five feet away!

Xoxox

Frog Mating Season (tadpoles!)

I tried so hard to sneak up on the spring pond full of mating frogs... i walked quietly and slowly from far away, trying to stop in between each step so I would not be noticed. The frogs were loudly making all their spring time mating calls, which is enough to make me feel warm inside already. From a distance I could see their heads above the water, floating on the surface and singing their love songs - at first it looked like turtles, the way they float with just their nose poking out the water, and these frogs are quite large.
But as soon as I got within 3-4 feet of the tiny pond, they one by one started darting down to the bottom.
This brave one, was the last to go from their relaxed floating, to the unknowable abyss below.
I then noticed right next to the lone ranger, was tadpole eggs already starting their process of life!!! How cool is that?
Like abstract art, or really the mimic of how all life starts... beautiful dots just riding beneath the surface of the water.... I couldnt paint a cooler picture.
XoXo