Monday, August 17, 2015

Froggy Kong Jr.


Sometimes heard, but seldom seen around here this very serious looking little gray tree frog 
was recently spotted hanging out on our newly acquired Kong Jr. Green Halo coleus.


Perhaps he/she has been waiting for us to provide a suitably camouflaging and photogenic plant for his lounging pleasure.

What a nice addition to the alley wildlife. 

It is possible he/she may be the little guy who hitched a ride in the next door neighbors' car trunk from a nearby lake to the West Hill a few weeks ago? 
Perhaps she/he has now had enough of city life and is patiently watching from this perfect vantage point for an opportunity to hop into another open trunk and be homeward bound.



Fun Frog Fact: 

The gray tree frog freezes in the winter! It produces large amounts of glycerol. The glycerol is changed to glucose, and then it is circulated through the frog's cells. The glucose acts like a kind of antifreeze and prevents ice crystals from forming in the frog's cells. If ice crystals formed in the cells, they would rip the cells apart and kill the frog. The rest of the water and blood in the frog's body then freezes, and its heartbeat and breathing stop! When the temperature warms up, the tree frog "thaws out" and returns to the trees! - nhptv

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Blow Out the Candles



And then douse them. And then douse them again. And maybe one more time.

Fire danger is high today.... on Smokey's birthday cake. 71 years old. Last year he had a big do.


We were there. There was cake.

And we are 100% sure that Smokey's only wish when he blew out the candles was that we all remember....

Only YOU can prevent wildfires.


Grab the kids and have some fun learning how at Smokey's Outpost.