# Frog . . . then SNAKE!!



## Nanci (Mar 1, 2012)

I took the dogs out for a pee and Carley started barking like crazy!! I looked over and Sami was looking at a large frog. I ran inside to get my phone and started taking photos and noticed the FROG WAS BLEEDING!! I thought . . . OMG . . one of my poos bit that frog??!! I was on the ground sittng to take a close up and saw a slight movement not ONE FOOT from my face!!! It was a SNAKE!!!! I said a BIG CURSE WORD and grabbed my dogs (a true feat of strength and agility thru pure adrenalin!!) I ran for the patio door and tossed them inside and yelled SNAKE to Freddy (who BTW was in the bathroom ON THE TOILET!!) RIGHT??? He got out REAL QUICK and we ran back outside . . . . naturally the snake was no where to be found!!! I think I am scared for LIFE now!! I work in that garden almost every day!! I did find out it is non-poisioness . . . but that does not help my nervous system ONE BIT right now. I did pick up the frog and took it to safety . . . hopefully it will live . . . not sure if I will!!! I will post pictues . . . Glad now I have them so Freddy won't think I'm stark raving mad!!







original picture of Sami and Frog







Noticed Frog was Bleeding







Then Saw this Snake!!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

Oh GOSH!!! 
well that sure got the heart pumping I guess!!
Glad it was a non poisonous snake


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## Nanci (Mar 1, 2012)

That's what everybody keeps saying, but my rational says if it will bite a frog it will bite my dogs!!! Good grief I'm still un-nerved!


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

yes that is a garder snake,they will eat bugs and the larger ones will eat small mice and small frogs,i have a few in my yard,but big brave ginger just barks and runs to me ..Haa Haa


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Exciting to read from a safe distance Nanci! But I agree, slightly terrifying  Glad you're all ok...I wonder what the pooches thought was happening when you got super human strength?!!


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Oooo nanci!! Too much excitement for me!
We do have frogs, toads, newts, slugs and snails to brave. But thankfully not snakes.....
Saying that, a few years ago there was a flattened snake on my lane (suspect an adder with its markings) but it had been a hot summer.
Glad you, carli, sammi & Freddie are ok 
It's Freddie I feel the most for....... What a time to have a catastrophic moment!! Xx


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## Nanci (Mar 1, 2012)

Tinman said:


> Oooo nanci!! Too much excitement for me!
> We do have frogs, toads, newts, slugs and snails to brave. But thankfully not snakes.....
> Saying that, a few years ago there was a flattened snake on my lane (suspect an adder with its markings) but it had been a hot summer.
> Glad you, carli, sammi & Freddie are ok
> It's Freddie I feel the most for....... What a time to have a catastrophic moment!! Xx


LOL!! Very true!! I was yelling for him and he kept saying "Hang on a minute!!!" I'm sure he would be thrilled to know I posted what he was busy doing while a castrophy was unfolding. oops


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## arlo (Mar 11, 2013)

Glad all was well in the end and hopefully you have saved the poor frogs life. In situatations like that I just scream! Well done for saving your babies (who probably wondered what the hell was going on). Hopefully tomorrows garden adventures will not be quite so fraught


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## dmgalley (Aug 19, 2012)

I just tread this to my hubby and made sure to point out that no one ended up naked!!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

How long did it take your's (and Freddy's) heart rate to return to normal?

In kenya snakes were an issue and the problem with dogs is that they are most likely to be bitten on their heads because they just can't resist investigating things with their nosey noses.
That said it was really, really rare, snakes are not confrontational creatures and if they have the option they will just slip quietly away. My dad had loads of dogs and lived in Kenya for about 50 years, one dog got snake venom in her eye (from a snake that spat at her) and lost the site in that eye and one pup might have died as the result of a snake bite (but it could have been a spider - sorry Nick!!) 
Do you have venemous snakes in your area? We always carried snake bite kits and also knew what various snakes looked like - if you or your dog is bitten it is really helpful if you know what type of snake was the biter.

In kenya we kept the grass short around the house or camp site - we did not take any other precautions - my Dad also was very, very strict on training dogs on recall and leave it commands - but honestly although that training is really useful generally, we didn't have to use it for snake avoidance.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Frogs and snakes are daily occurances here, thankfully none are poisonous. Your story, Nanci, sent me off on an amazing google journey through snake and frog identifying sites. The snake is, like Lumpy said, a harmless, very well fed garter but I can't find anything on the frog.  Did this frog come from a water source near you? I have just read that all true toads are poisonous and some can kill a medium sized dog! Worse yet some can live to 40 years old. Holy camoly I let my kids pick up frogs and toads all the time!


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Ooh quite a find! Funny looking frog!


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## lizzye (Jun 27, 2014)

Half of my property is wooded. We have lots of toads, frogs and some snakes. (Several years ago my doxie found a snake that was trying to swallow a toad that was larger than its mouth would allow.) We went all of last summer without seeing any snakes and most of this summer. Last week my daughter, who is deathly afraid of snakes, let our pup out around 10p.m. There was a snake on the back walk. My daughter came running into the house crying. As I pointed out to her, the snake moved away from her. They will do the same if they come across a dog. Fortunately we only have non-poisonous snakes where I live. I still don't like seeing them though.


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## Nanci (Mar 1, 2012)

Elizabeth . . . don't you live in Ohio also?? We have been here almost a year and this is the first snake I have seen . . . even being backed up to a large corn field. It scared me so bad because my face was so close to it (about a foot away) and I didn't even know it was there cause I was concentrating on the frog. We are not close to any water source and I think this frog honestly had turned paler due to the triple threat of 2 dogs AND and snake that had already bitten it. He did not move a muscle the entire time, I had to pick it up (with thick gloves) and put it in the field behind our house. He chirrped at me and hopped off. I'm thinking he was telling me "Thank you so much!!" I just couldn't imagine that snake eating that hugh frog as it was MUCH bigger than the snake, but he was giving it a try.
Carley was right beside my shoulder barking her head off and I grabbed her first and grabbed Sami second and fled!! I'm sure it was a bit of an over reaction but It starteled the dickens out of me!! Of cource Freddy was totally unaffected . . . but he never actually saw it. The first thing he said when we couldn't find it was "Let the dogs out so they can help me find it" I said "Oh HELL NO!!" My heart rate was fast for probably an hour, and went back up each time I let them out since, but haven't seen any snakes.
My neice said the only poisonous snakes here are Water Moccasins and pygmy rattlesnakes and she had only seen one of each in 20 yrs. Thank God!!!


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

oh yes,i just re-looked at that photo and that is a really big toad.i don't like toads because,,like what was said they can be poisonous.and they feel ickkey when you pick them up


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I do like toads but have never liked the stuff that comes out of them, which I always assumed until now was pee. Now I wonder how close my kids and I have come to be poisoned.


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

I like toads. They're kind of cute. Whenever I find one I pick it up and take it to one of the flower beds with instructions to eat lots of bugs. Oh yeah, I always get peed on by them too. The poison comes from the two big bumps behind their eyes being squeezed which could happen when a predator picks them up.


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

I love toads and frogs too, they're such magical little creatures. Reading this suddenly made me remember one of my favourite Hans Christian Andersen tales, The Toad, it's taken me right back to being small with one of my favourite books! It used to make me cry though.........in fact it still does, I've just found it and am now snuffling 
http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheToad_e.html


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## lizzye (Jun 27, 2014)

*yes*

I am in Ohio. I can understand your apprehension with the snakes. I recall you lived in the south, and there are many more harmful snakes there. I'm glad you posted this thread because I have a lot of toads. Franco was very interested in them in the spring time when we see them frequently. I didn't even think about them being harmful.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

The garden in my old house had a fair few frogs and toads - it scared me to death the first time one of my then dogs came in frothing at the mouth and dribbling but I soon learned it was just the result of trying to play with a toad  Not sure if US toads are more harmful than UK toads?


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

We quite often get frogs in our garden, our neighbours used to have a pond but don't now but maybe someone else has one nearby, we always have to stop Dudley hunting them, he got into the greenhouse and was going loopy trying to get one a couple of weeks ago, at the moment we have a hedgehog that wanders about in the garden every evening, Dudley keeps barking at it sniffing it when he finds it, I'm just worried that he will get flea's from it. 
speaking of Toads, I think i'm right in saying that in australia it wasn't uncommon for people to lick cane toads to get high! (they are huge).


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

I just saw a show on tv about Australia cane toads. They're super poisonous.


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## Nanci (Mar 1, 2012)

Lick them???!!! Euwwww . . . Oh Yuk!!!


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

OK>>I WANT TO KNOW WHICH ONE OF US WOULD LICK A TOAD,,,Haaa Haaa

well it is not me that's for sure


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

I'll take a bet on Tinman?!


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I'd kiss a toad if the bribe was high enough! 

Mazz I read The Toad yesterday which set off multiple questions for me. I was rushed so I didn't read it well and I am left confused. Did you cry because the toad died? Or because his wanderlust was ended? Did you think the "jewel" he had was a good thing or a bad thing? Who did all the characters he met along the way represent in your mind? I tried to find some cheat notes on line to find out if it was supposed to be a sort of Animal Farm thing going on with the other characters or if someone could explain all the metaphors for me but with no luck. Most troubling for me was the contradictions between the jewel and my (limited) understanding of religion.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I was more of a Rudyard Kipling child myself and the term 'oh best beloved' gives me memory shivers! I suspect children today will get misty eyed when they reread Julia Donaldson years down the line ...

The Toad I also remember but obviously never thought about it in the great depths that Fairlie is doing - obviously she has a jewel in her head!

Is not the jewel that thing that keeps you wanting to improve your lot and yourself and seek for better things - don't all religions ultimately want us to seek and not be satisfied with where we are?
It is sad that the toad dies - although perhaps his journey is continued by the young stork who after all will go to Egypt and who knows where his story will take him.
Frogs look pretty much like toads but are missing that spark, the jewel, that will move them on from their little pond.
Scientists are always looking for proof, poets are not restricted by fact.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Marzi said:


> don't all religions ultimately want us to seek and not be satisfied with where we are?


Marzi you have triggered my journey this morning through some truly fascinating websites on world religions. I fear I might have to confess to being a frog at heart! 

What is everyone else, frog or toad?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I'm sure I was a toad, but sadly have mislaid my jewel.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Not mislaid, just incubating maybe? We can't get them out to shine until all our chicks take flight.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

hmmm chicks 

Mother toad was happy to stay at the bottom of the well and even warned her toadlets that where they were was the best place...


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

NB actually looked up and read the story just now - and found this quote:

_That eternal longing and desire to go upward, ever upward, was the jewel, and it shone within the little Toad, shone with gladness, shone brightly_

I think I still have the longing, but the desire is not strong enough to get me going and there is so much (chicks etc) holding me back


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

This is one of those threads!

Fairlie, Yes I think it made me cry when I was little mainly because he died, it was so unexpected and just didn't seem fair, as if he was being punished for wanting something new (like a cautionary tale to count your blessings and be happy with your lot). And I was so used to stories where the underdog/mistreated character always triumphed in the end ('and they all lived happily ever after'). Also because everyone was horrible to him - he was so lovely, gentle, naive and guileless it felt awful to see him treated unjustly, especially as he still thought the best of people/creatures after being treated badly. A lot of old traditional tales are very stark and harsh aren't they and full of death and gore at times - like killing and cutting open the wolf in Red Riding Hood etc! 

I also had a very strong mental image of toad being squashed by the stork and of the light leaving his eyes which I remember stayed with me and left me feeling quite affected - I felt it again on reading it the other day. I think I half understood the fact that the jewel was a metaphor (maybe for his soul or his desire to seek more?) but again it created such a strong image in my mind of an actual jewel it was confusing (and I had some wooden animal figurines with jewel eyes which only added to the mish mash!). 

Looking at it with adult eyes is an odd experience and there does seem to be a definite religious feel to it, the contrasting approach of poet and scientist seemed to refer to the whole 'proof denies faith' thing. The toad always strives to travel upwards and I suppose his ironic final flight took him into 'the heavens' literally and metaphorically. Marzi I love your thoughts on it too, such a lot of metal energy in this thread!

I should think every character has another meaning of some sort, the caterpillar with his metarmorphosis to butterfly, the stork with his unfeasible migration etc but I'm not sure I get every significance. These tales are translated too which can add to their strange feel I think. I might have to read a few more


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Thanks for that Mazz and Marzi, this is all provoking very strong emotion in me. I can totally see a sensitive young soul tearing up as she confronts the injustice of it all. It is such a rude awakening when we realize that there really is no happily ever after and that the good and guileless get it just as bad if not worse than the bad and coniving.

It is a lot like dream analysis this story. Each of us can be each and every character and the interpretation can be such a personal thing. For me the conflict comes with, if the jewel shining brightly and with gladness represents the quest for God then why did the toad die? Wasn't HC Anderson a Christian?


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

fairlie said:


> Thanks for that Mazz and Marzi, this is all provoking very strong emotion in me. I can totally see a sensitive young soul tearing up as she confronts the injustice of it all. It is such a rude awakening when we realize that there really is no happily ever after and that the good and guileless get it just as bad if not worse than the bad and coniving.
> 
> It is a lot like dream analysis this story. Each of us can be each and every character and the interpretation can be such a personal thing. For me the conflict comes with, if the jewel shining brightly and with gladness represents the quest for God then why did the toad die? Wasn't HC Anderson a Christian?


Yes, I was very sensitive! I still sob at all sorts of daft things. Children's books often get me, when I read them aloud at school sometimes I well up  One that gets me every time is 'Bigfoot' it's just a gorgeous book.

In terms of your question, do you think toad might have realised his quest for God by the very act of dying?

I've just bought a DVD of the Danny Kaye film, I loved that too (can't believe it's dated 1952!!??!!) I'm going for full on sob-inducing nostalgia when it arrives


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Hope you enjoy every sob Mazz.  I've never seen that film but I have been subjected to at least a zillion viewings of The Court Jester.  For some reason it got my kids and parents rolling on the floor laughing every time.

Have never read Bigfoot, must find it though because there is no one to trust better than a teacher for good childrens books!

Ahh, finding God like a Muslim bomber or a Budhist monk on fire or an innocent toad snatched up willingly by a stork? Seems a bit odd to me because I've always thought of religious doctrine as a code to keep us safe from harm.

I'm going to hunt through the Toad for more metaphors and allusions. I'll let you know what I find.


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Just tried to get you a link to the Bigfoot book and can't find it, I'll check the author when I go to school xx


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