We’ve all heard the classic fable about the girl who kisses a frog who turns into a prince, but a couple of girls in India are taking it to heart by marrying frogs. The traditional ceremony took place as part of the “Pongal” harvest tradition. The ceremony is meant to prevent mysterious diseases in the village.
The ceremony has its roots in the story of the Hindu God Shiva who turned himself into a frog following a quarrel with his wife Parvati. She cried for days causing disease to spread throughout local villages. When the villages asked for help she sent them to find Shiva and plead with him to marry a young girl. She herself posed as the girl, and when Shiva agreed to marry her they returned to their original god forms and the outbreak was cured.
After the ceremony, the frogs (which apparently didn’t turn into princes) are returned to a muddy pond to find more compatible mates. Read more…
Here is a very cool National Geographic video of a Strawberry Poison Dart Frog taking care of her tadpoles. The strawberry poison dart frog actually carries the tadpole on her back, looking for the perfect body of fresh water to keep the tadpole. It can come back and check on her other tadpoles, listening for vibrations that uniquely identify her tadpoles.
If you are interested in picking up a coffee table book filled with spectacular frog photos, check out Frog: A Photographic Portrait. It is filled with incredible pictures by photographer Thomas Marent.
The stunning photos in this collection make the book a great gift for frog lovers, photographers looking for inspiration, or anyone who enjoys looking at amazing photos.
To see some of the photos from the book, go to Amazon, click the picture of the book, and click the “Surprise Me” link to see a random page from the book.
The great Georgia Frog Survey is underway this week. Several weeks ago, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources was seeking volunteers who were interested in being trained to learn specific sounds and living behaviors for its 31 different frog species for its annual frog survey. The survey begins January 15th.
To test your own frog listening abilities, check out the USGS Frog Quiz.
It’s been a bitterly cold winter. How do frogs survive the freezing cold temperatures? Daily Press explains how the wood frog (Lithobates Sylvaticus) can survive freezing temperatures using its naturally occurring ability to protect its organs from ice damage before thawing back out in the spring.
During hibernation, wood frogs burrow deep into leaf litter on the forest floor. When the temperature drops, the outside of the frog’s body becomes coated with an icy shell. This triggers increased blood glucose levels, essentially an “anti-freeze” solution that circulates to vital organs, protecting them against ice damage. The freezing process is completed after several hours and wood frogs can withstand temperatures as low as 21 degrees Fahrenheit.
The wood frog is found throughout the northern United States and is the only frog equipped to live in the Arctic Circle. Read more…
We’ve all heard the classic fable about the girl who kisses a frog who turns into a prince, but a couple of girls in India are taking it to heart by marrying frogs. The traditional ceremony took place as part of the “Pongal” harvest tradition. The ceremony is meant to prevent mysterious diseases in the village.
