Another froggie tale(s)...

Treefrog from the dryer

Remember my recent post about the treefrog above our front door? Well, I've got another frog story(ies) for you! Last week, I washed sheets, a normal thing that we do every week or so. After a wash, I  throw the sheets into our dryer and turn on the machine. But not this time. Because there was some leaf debris in the washing machine that got onto the sheets. So, one by one, I shook the sheets and pillowcases outside (while I inwardly grumbled at my husband for not shaking out his work clothes, which I know he does but still...just being honest). Before placing them all in the dryer, I leaned down to clean out some little pieces of leaf debris. Then a lump of what I thought was gray lint caught my eye on the bottom inside of the drum. I reached down to get it out, and HE JUMPED! A Cope's gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis)! In the dryer!? I was stunned! How'd he get in THERE? I still don't know. After a few photos, I released him near our little stock tank pond. Thanks to James and the leaf debris, that frog lived to see another day. Or else he'd have cooked in the dryer with the sheets! Oh, my, would that have traumatized ME if I'd found him!

Back to my frog tales.... Two days later, James texted me the photo above. A treefrog in the WASHING MACHINE!? Then a day later, he reported that he'd felt something slimy under the kitchen/garage exterior door knob. A treefrog! Another release in our pond.

Fast forward to this morning, when I was about to drop a load of towels in our washing machine. Just to be sure, I looked down to check for frogs and...you guessed it...THERE WAS ANOTHER FROG! I have no clue what's going on with this "frog infestation," but I find it all rather entertaining and very mysterious. With the lack of rain right now, where are they tadpole-ing? I don't see any little frogs around the pond. If you've got some ideas, let me know. In the meantime, I'd better go check the dryer before I throw in the towels. 

UPDATE June 22, 2022 

Another treefrog in the washing machine this morning!