Not a motorcycle, Bill!
We’ve been adopted! We weren’t looking for a pet and we didn’t really want one, but here we are, enthusiastic caretakers of a Tree frog we’ve dubbed Buddy. This little guy has made himself at home in our shop, where there’s plenty of insects to feast on. Housekeeping, or rather shopkeeping, has never much been on my husband’s mind!
We’ve been through many many pet phases in the past — dogs, kitties, fish, 2 goats my young daughter named Nero and Nadia, a horned toad called Horny, a tarantula…a cow — but the fun part is this pet came to us on its own free will. This isn’t any ordinary pet like the neighborhood cat or a stray dog, we’ve been adopted by a tree frog, people.
Buddy’s looking for dinner.
Our house backs up to a wetlands area where the sound from thousands of tree frogs fill the night air after rains flood the open field behind us. Some of them do stray into the shop during the wet months, but for some reason this one stayed. Maybe because we’re just so darned nice but, then again, maybe it’s because the only predators in there are us!
Buddy’s residence is the Christmas cactus that’s sitting on the workbench, a plant Bill’s dad started from seed 70 years ago. My in-laws were avid nature lovers and would be very excited to see it. Really, who wouldn’t want to call this beautiful plant home. Buddy backs his little butt up into that moist space between the bottom of the pot and the gravel filled saucer that catches the overflow from watering. He’s watching spiders spin the webs that catch his dinner, no doubt.
One day there were actually two of them, so we fantasized that he called up his girlfriend and were hopeful it was the beginning of our very own little frog family. But darn, it was only a one-day visit since tree frogs are loners, and we haven’t seen her since. Buddy remains a confirmed bachelor, but mating season will probably be calling him back to the wetlands come winter. You might be wondering how we know Buddy is a boy. We don’t!
With a pet comes responsibility and, of course, poop duty. (You’d be surprised at the size these adorable creatures can put out!) Every night around 8:00 Bill goes out to say goodnight and freshen up Buddy’s living space, and sometimes finds him looking for his dinner on the window’s security bars. By now our little visitor lets Bill get close enough to snap pictures and add clean water to the little swimming pool he set up on the window sill. As you can see, Bill’s taking his new pet’s living environment very seriously!
It’s been 6 weeks now, and Buddy’s been a welcomed distraction from the mundane chores of daily living. We’re enjoying the moment because our little friend can get out of the shop anytime he feels the urge and, in the end, we know not to control Mother Nature.