From Leap Frog to Toad in the Pole

Silvery, soft, silky, squishy, and slightly dry. That’s what I thought the glob of sticky putty would feel like as I gingerly tried to pry it from between my speedometer and dashboard while driving home. Then it jumped! It was a silvery, soft, silky, squishy, and slightly dry Arum frog (Hyperolius horstockii).

With both eyes on the leaping frog, foot heavy on the metal, I almost hit a pole. That was a frog-in-the-throat moment! Fortunately, mid-flight, he hit the back of the steering wheel, ricocheting him away from my throat and onto the speedometer face, where he sat between 130 and 150 km/h for 75 minutes, eyeballing me.

I had the opportunity to see his soft underbelly with its distinct yellow markings; he was almost translucent and so fragile. The little boy across the road wasn't really impressed and just wanted to know whether I could find another one, while he backed away cautiously. He was safely transferred to the birdbath in a canned fruit bottle, but before I could “shoot” him, he leaped into the poison ivy.

 I hope he likes Worcester; his chances of being Prince Charming were better in my Arums in Onrus, but here there are lots of mosquitoes on a balmy evening. If I'd had a wart, I would blow it to the full moon tonight.

We look forward to his “harsh nasal bleat every half second” as we put our feet up on the railing to watch the Mouse birds, Cape Robins, and the bright yellow Weavers' exuberant bathing!

We’ve been lucky to have a Cape Mountain frog in our pond for at least a year; he’s had a companion for a day or two, but generally he’s our bachelor boy, the first thing we look for.

The great mystery will always be how he managed to find his way into the motorcar, since they're quite elusive. Sadly, after reading more about the Arum frog, I wonder whether he'll survive the Klein Karoo?

To the Vietnamese, a toad is the Sky's uncle. According to an ancient Vietnamese story, whenever toads grind their teeth, it is going to rain. They also have a famous quote, "Sitting at the bottom of wells, frogs think that the sky is as wide as a lid," which ridicules someone who is narrow-minded, ignorant, and arrogant.

 "When the snake gets old, the frog gets him by the balls." This Iranian proverb is my all-time favourite!

 “She dotes on poetry, sir. She adores it; I may say her whole soul and mind are wound up and entwined with it. She has produced some delightful pieces herself, sir. You may have met with her 'Ode to an Expiring Frog.'”

― Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers