Lucky's Porta-Pond (STORY TIME!!!)

(If you want to read Lucky's whole story, please visit this picture! :) My Friend Lucky

A lot of time has passed since I first met Lucky on July 3rd. Our seasonal pond would dry up that day, so I went down with a bucket and saved every tadpole I could. When I was satisfied that I'd gotten them all, I brought them up to the house where I had a plastic pool waiting for them to give these tadpoles another chance. I went back down for one last look, and there was Lucky, struggling in the mud and gasping for air. I wisked him into the bowl I brought with me and he swam happily in circles while I brought him to the pool to be with his friends.

Summer passed and with it, most of the hundred+ tadpoles developed into tiny froglets, climbed out of the pool, and hopped away to find a life out in the great, big world. Steve and I would find them everywhere, two stories up in our tomato plants on our back deck, and in our shop, hanging out by the faucet. Their small size gave them away, and every time we found another, both of us smiled with joy, knowing they were alive because of us.

For some reason, many tadpoles stopped their metamorphosis into froglets, and as summer turned to autumn, dozens of tadpoles continued to enjoy Lucky's Pond without growing up and hopping away. I began to worry...it would freeze when winter came and kill these sweet little guys.

I went to San Francisco to visit my dad, and when I got back, I checked on Lucky's Pond the next morning. To my horror, the pond was nearly dry, apparently developing a leak when I was gone. In the small amount of water left, about 20 little tadpoles wiggled in the mud. I ran and got a bucket and filled it with water. I scooped them out into the bucket, where each of them swam around in relief, and when I was done, I brought them into the house and put Lucky's Porta-Pond on the kitchen table. "Honey," I called to Steve, "We have some visitors!"

The very next morning we got our first frost, and the water dishes we have for the wild birds to drink from were all covered with a layer of ice. Once again, Lucky and his friends were saved just in the nick of time!

We set up a tub with an air stone in the water with rocks and places for the emerging froglets to hang out. Already, two of the tadpoles have turned into tiny little frogs, and enjoy clinging to the sides of their new home. We'll be making another home for the froglets, which will have more land and less water, and we'll be feeding them wingless fruit flies starting today!

Frogs hibernate during the winter here, but these little guys are too small to survive, as they've developed too late, so we'll be keeping all of them over the winter with hopes they will survive, and in the spring, when it begins to warm up, we'll bring them down to the pond and let them go, and they can start a family of their own! :)

Thanks for all of your comments and favorites! I am currently buried under work right now so I'm not commenting as much as I want to, but as things ease up, I'll be stopping by to say hi! Until then, I'm missing your wonderful pictures and look forward to seeing what every one of you is up to! *hugs*