My Baby!

Look! I have a baby!

This is 'Baby Frog' who started out as a tadpole in the rice field 3 weeks ago. At that time, my friend came over and said she wanted some tadpoles for her daughter. So she, my husband and I went looking in the rice fields for some.

It was probably a funny sight - 3 adults with a net and plastic 'bug' box, searching around in the rice fields and irrigation channels by my house. Finally we got one tadpole, 2 very tiny baby loaches and two water snails. My friend took them home for her children.

But this week my friend went to America so I got the box and brought it home again. That was on Sunday and 'Baby Frog' was still a tadpole. In fact, he looked more like a baby blowfish than a frog - he had a big round head with a cute little mouth. On Monday his legs got a little bigger, that's all. On Tuesday night he was STILL a brown tadpole swimming in the water.

Wednesday morning I got up and went to look at him but he was gone! Then I found him on the side of the plastic case - he was a FROG! It was amazing that he changed from a tadpole to a frog in just 8 HOURS!!! He changed into a tiny bright green frog.

I kept him for just a day and yesterday evening my husband and I took him back to the rice field and released him. It is raining today so I hope he is happy and could find some bugs to eat.

The loaches and snails are still in the case and I'm going to keep them! I can't wait until they get bigger. Yesterday I went to the pet shop in Lala Garden and bought some food and moss to make a proper home.

Next year you should get some tadpoles and watch them change. It truly is a miracle of nature!

tadpole - オタマジャクシ
come over - (other people visit your house)
rice field / paddy field - 水田
irrigation channel - 水路
loach - ドジョウ
water snail / pond snail / mud snail - タニシ
blowfish / pufferfish - フグ, 体をふくらませる魚(フグなど)
bug / insect - 昆虫, 虫
moss - コケ: スギゴケ類，セン（蘚）類