Tree frogs in my garden: Health Ranger photos show delightful result of chemical-free gardening

Sunday, August 12, 2012 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: tree frogs, Health Ranger, garden

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(NaturalNews) I've got tree frogs in my garden! As the pictures below show in up-close detail, these tree frogs like to climb our broccoli plants. It's not just one frog, either; we've got dozens of frogs climbing around the garden, appearing each night and often singing with their high-pitched, cricket-like sounds.

Why is this a big deal? Because frogs are highly sensitive to toxic chemicals. Any garden that's laced with toxic pesticides and fungicides won't support abundant frog life. As such, the spotting of a population of healthy, vibrant frogs on your own land (or in your garden) is a sure sign that you're avoiding chemicals and practicing organic agriculture.

Taking a tree frog for an accidental trip to Austin

The other night I drove to Austin for a late-night secret meeting with a source for an upcoming story, and on the way back, I discovered that one of these tree frogs had snuck into my car and was trying to get out by hopping onto the window. Shocked to feel a frog climbing around my left arm, I immediately knew I had to help this frog get back to the garden. Yet my car was almost out of gas, so I needed to stop and refuel to make it home.

This resulted in a bizarre, desperate effort to keep the tree frog contained inside the car while I exited the vehicle and refueled. If the frog had escaped, it would have died in the harsh environment of the city of Austin, so I was determined to keep it safe and get it home.

After successfully navigating the refueling effort, I noticed the frog had curled up into "dehydration prevention" mode, where they minimize their skin surface exposure to conserve water. These frogs need a lot of moisture, and I could tell this one was starting to dry out. His skin color went from the usual bright green to more of a gray color.

So I hurried back to the ranch, and thankfully the traffic was clear because it was late at night. I drove right up to my garden, turned off the car, and picked up the frog from the car floor. I grabbed the garden hose and soaked an area under a fig bush to make it as wet as possible, then placed the frog in the wet grass. His skin sort of stuck to my skin with a kind of "tacky" feel. After I set him down, I sprayed the tree frog with a bit more water, using gentle water pressure from the hose. Once I was satisfied he was safe and sound, back home in the wet, chemical-free garden, I made a mental note: Check my car for tree frogs in the future, before driving to Austin!

Here are the photos of a tree frog in my garden. I can't say if it's exactly the same tree frog I saved, because we now have lots of these:



Here's another:


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