RodOutback
New member
- Nov 23, 2014
- 17
- 0
Trish,
This is an image of young Grippers the Green Tree Frog; from 2010.
[Non-Australians know this as a Whites or Dumpy Tree Frog - Litoria caerulea]
I first met Grippers, on a cool morning in May of 2010. Young Grippers had very nearly ended it's life, when a visitor put her boot on one morning, and found the toe space was occupied by something small, wet and slightly squishy. It would seem that the inch-and-a-bit-long Grippers was trying hard to find a cosy spot to survive Winter...
Grippers was repatriated to the frog bathing jar, but was found back in the boot for the next 2 mornings. Thankfully, the guest had taken to checking her boots for frogs BEFORE attempting to put them on...
To give the poor Grip-Meister a slim chance in life, I commissioned one of the new Mouse traps I had on the shelf. A cloth towel soaked in rainwater was jammed in, and Grippers found it had a perfect Winter retreat.
Much to the disgust of the 2 staff, the mouse-trap with the incumbent Grippers, spent the next 3 weeks on the kitchen table, and was regularly inspected to ensure the occupant was enjoying the new house...
Grippers wasn't up for any food due to the cold weather, but then I had nothing in the way of insects to feed the little tyke anyway.
So, come early June, and Winter is well and truly upon us. Grippers is nigh comatose, but snuggled down in a damp blanket, and seems to be more than happy.
However, I am faced with a dilemma. I have to drive the 800-odd miles to the Sunshine Coast to see the accountant, and I am worried that neither of the staff are going to care for the frog.
What to do....What to do.
So....I took the frog with me.
As far as I know, Grippers is the only GTF here that has made the trip to the Sunshine Coast, enjoyed a week at a resort, and travelled back to home.
Turns out the Sunshine Coast was enjoying about 9 degrees warmer temps at night, and the first night at the resort, they had an evening shower. The attached photo was taken just after I had opened the Frog Chalet (Cant really call it a mouse-trap any more!) door, and had left it on the table on my little balcony. 5 minutes later, and Grippers is out enjoying the smell of the rain, and the fact that it's body temp wasn't in the single digits.
So, I spent a few days on the Coast, while I wrangled budgets and Cash-Flows with the accountant, and on my last day, I made an amazing discovery.
[Probably NOT that amazing if you've ever owned pets, but amazing for me..]
I have been charged with the task of finding some puppy collars for our contractor, as her working dog had just produced pups. I find a pet superstore, and after making the collar purchase, have a bit of a look around.
AND, I find I can buy boxes of crickets!
I don't even have to catch them!!
So, I return to the resort room, with a box of the Pet Stores finest Medium-Small crickets, and wave one in front of the open door of the frog chalet. After a few seconds of nothing, a green streak shoots out the door, and inhales the cricket!
10 crickets later, and the green terror retreats to it's apartment, and the rest of the crickets get to breathe a sigh of relief.
The following night, I overnight at Roma; approximately half-way home. I place the opened frog chalet out on the table, and drop the sealed clear plastic container of crickets on the table beside it. I go turn my laptop computer on, and turn back to do something about feeding the frog.
In the few minutes I had my back turned, the frog is out of it's chalet, and is trying to fang the terrified crickets through side of the plastic container!
Just give me a chance, mate!
Anyway, we returned home, with the Grippers putting on weight like you wouldn't believe. The little devil continued using the frog chalet for the next couple of months, when I rigged it up out in a weather-proof enclosure outside.
Towards the end of August, the Grippers had vanished, made one brief return for a few nights in late September, and hasn't been sighted since. Mind you; I might have seen the little tyke, and simply not recognised it, though I do regularly check any new frogs for their markings.
And that's the story of Grippers; the well-travelled frog.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1222/4720249717_50f0c29bfb_s.jpg
This is an image of young Grippers the Green Tree Frog; from 2010.
[Non-Australians know this as a Whites or Dumpy Tree Frog - Litoria caerulea]
I first met Grippers, on a cool morning in May of 2010. Young Grippers had very nearly ended it's life, when a visitor put her boot on one morning, and found the toe space was occupied by something small, wet and slightly squishy. It would seem that the inch-and-a-bit-long Grippers was trying hard to find a cosy spot to survive Winter...
Grippers was repatriated to the frog bathing jar, but was found back in the boot for the next 2 mornings. Thankfully, the guest had taken to checking her boots for frogs BEFORE attempting to put them on...
To give the poor Grip-Meister a slim chance in life, I commissioned one of the new Mouse traps I had on the shelf. A cloth towel soaked in rainwater was jammed in, and Grippers found it had a perfect Winter retreat.
Much to the disgust of the 2 staff, the mouse-trap with the incumbent Grippers, spent the next 3 weeks on the kitchen table, and was regularly inspected to ensure the occupant was enjoying the new house...
Grippers wasn't up for any food due to the cold weather, but then I had nothing in the way of insects to feed the little tyke anyway.
So, come early June, and Winter is well and truly upon us. Grippers is nigh comatose, but snuggled down in a damp blanket, and seems to be more than happy.
However, I am faced with a dilemma. I have to drive the 800-odd miles to the Sunshine Coast to see the accountant, and I am worried that neither of the staff are going to care for the frog.
What to do....What to do.
So....I took the frog with me.
As far as I know, Grippers is the only GTF here that has made the trip to the Sunshine Coast, enjoyed a week at a resort, and travelled back to home.
Turns out the Sunshine Coast was enjoying about 9 degrees warmer temps at night, and the first night at the resort, they had an evening shower. The attached photo was taken just after I had opened the Frog Chalet (Cant really call it a mouse-trap any more!) door, and had left it on the table on my little balcony. 5 minutes later, and Grippers is out enjoying the smell of the rain, and the fact that it's body temp wasn't in the single digits.
So, I spent a few days on the Coast, while I wrangled budgets and Cash-Flows with the accountant, and on my last day, I made an amazing discovery.
[Probably NOT that amazing if you've ever owned pets, but amazing for me..]
I have been charged with the task of finding some puppy collars for our contractor, as her working dog had just produced pups. I find a pet superstore, and after making the collar purchase, have a bit of a look around.
AND, I find I can buy boxes of crickets!
I don't even have to catch them!!
So, I return to the resort room, with a box of the Pet Stores finest Medium-Small crickets, and wave one in front of the open door of the frog chalet. After a few seconds of nothing, a green streak shoots out the door, and inhales the cricket!
10 crickets later, and the green terror retreats to it's apartment, and the rest of the crickets get to breathe a sigh of relief.
The following night, I overnight at Roma; approximately half-way home. I place the opened frog chalet out on the table, and drop the sealed clear plastic container of crickets on the table beside it. I go turn my laptop computer on, and turn back to do something about feeding the frog.
In the few minutes I had my back turned, the frog is out of it's chalet, and is trying to fang the terrified crickets through side of the plastic container!
Just give me a chance, mate!
Anyway, we returned home, with the Grippers putting on weight like you wouldn't believe. The little devil continued using the frog chalet for the next couple of months, when I rigged it up out in a weather-proof enclosure outside.
Towards the end of August, the Grippers had vanished, made one brief return for a few nights in late September, and hasn't been sighted since. Mind you; I might have seen the little tyke, and simply not recognised it, though I do regularly check any new frogs for their markings.
And that's the story of Grippers; the well-travelled frog.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1222/4720249717_50f0c29bfb_s.jpg
