New Additions to the Family – Lance Schonberg

So there are new inhabitants in the house. Well, not quite in the house. More on the back porch in an old fish tank, but that’s sort of like being in the house, right?

Let’s backtrack a little.

Youngest and I were out geocaching¹ Saturday afternoon and at one point found ourselves beside a small stream with a few hundred tadpoles lazily sunning themselves and enjoying an afternoon algae snack here and there. Of course she wanted to catch some and bring them home. We went through the usual battery of questions—where will you keep them, what do they eat, and so on—and she offered to do some research to find out how to take care of them, noted that we had an old aquarium in the garage we weren’t doing anything with, and thought it would be a wonderful science-y nature-y type thing to watch them grow legs and turn into frogs then take them back and release them. After all, dad, many frogs are endangered or at risk and maybe we can help a few more make it to adulthood.

Middlest thought this a wonderful idea. Mom not so keen, but is very indulgent on things related to learning and education.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and three of us are back at the same stream trying to catch tadpoles with bare hands, small cups, and an aquarium net with a hole in the middle. Net result (ha, ha) is a total of 15 tadpoles of at least two different species (I think) in a fifteen gallon tank on the back porch.

It was quickly agreed that they must have names. I offered to name only the three I caught (as if I can tell which those are) and let them split the rest. Here’s what we’ve got:

Named by Youngest: Kermit, Yoda, Kelpie, Popper, Pickle, Gandalf

Named by Middlest: Naked, Baby Blue, Assassin Toad, Bubbles, Buttercup, Blossom

Named by Me: Edgar, Alan, and Hypnotoad.

You can see slight differences in sense of humour spread between the three of us. I’m hoping we can keep more of them alive that nature would have. Updates may follow, at least until we release our little slimy friends back into the wild when they’ve got fully developed legs and lungs.

We brought three snails home as well. Likely, they are equally deserving of names.

Be well, everyone.

¹ Outdoor treasure hunt with the aid of GPS capable devices. Find things other people have hidden. A fun hobby. You should try. geocaching.com