Tiny intruders

I finally caught one of the little buggers!



The drama started about a month ago. Something woke me at 4am, and in my groggy half-conscious state, I couldn't figure out what it was. It was something loud. Very loud. I decided it must be my husband snoring on the couch.

But no, that didn't seem quite right.

Was it the little Bean snoring with her head tucked into my armpit? (Her presence was the reason why her Daddy had escaped to the other room) No, it wasn't her.

It seemed to be coming from the basement.

It sounded like... a frog? A really loud frog? Yes, in the basement.

A few days later we could distinctly hear at least two of them singing to each other.

The search was on.

My husband saw one jumping around behind our freezer. Our boys searched with flashlights until their batteries went dead. Despite doing a quick check for them whenever their song echoed through our home, the only time I saw one was when I lifted a bin of recycling and scared the little guy that was hiding there. It hopped underneath the freezer, of course.

They're tiny little creatures, and fast too. Did I mention how loud they are?

We hear them all the time.

The little Bean puts her finger up to her lips (shhhhhh) and parks herself by the baby gate at the top of the basement stairs so she can hear them better. In fact, when we hear frogs outside now, she puts her finger to her lips and laughs like a hyena.

It's been quite a game.

The sound of frogs singing has been a sort of zen-like addition to the chaos of my days. And honestly, even my husband admits he likes hearing them too.

And I finally got one!

There is a hole in the concrete floor about the size of my hand, with a little cave that disappears behind it. A tiny little frog cave. We've had water issues. Don't ask. The frogs are just the icing on the cake.

Would it worry you to have an empty space of unknown size underneath your basement floor? What if the entire thing is going to collapse? What if I step off the stairs tomorrow with a big basket of laundry and end up in China?

And you know, there are other animals besides frogs that spend winter hibernating deep in the ground. I won't mention them here.

{Cough} Snakes.

What if we get snakes in our basement? My mother would never ever visit us again. I would miss her. Although I do like snakes as much as I like frogs.

Salamanders? I adore them even more. But really? Not in my basement.

Those poor frogs must be so confused. They dig down looking for a nice warm place to spend the winter sleeping, take a wrong turn and end up...

It's been a full month! What the heck are they eating down there!?

So I caught one. Right after our big kid got on the bus one morning. I couldn't just let it go outside. I knew he needed to see it. He loves frogs. LOVES them. But what to do with it until he got home?

I was brilliant. The boys have a little terrarium plant thingie, complete with a lid. Perfect.



The younger boy and I stuck it in there. I spent the day imagining how excited that big kid would be when he saw it, and how happy the tiny frog must be sitting in soft moist soil among the seedlings, instead of on cold concrete.

When the kid arrived home that afternoon, I told him I had a surprise.

I built up the suspense and I built it up good.

We peeked into the terrarium.


{awkward silence}


It was gone... apparently buried itself for the winter. Again.

{sigh}

Sometimes I'm so brilliant I even amaze myself.