A plague of frogs

[rthstewart]

We've seen lots and lots of these little, tiny guys hopping around. The good news, it's reflecting the overall health of the environment where we are as I've not seen this many frogs in probably 10 years. The bad news is that it is rainy and damp and so lots of them are out. They are spring peepers, Pseudacris crucifer and quite musical.

Comments

[andi_horton]

Hee. At university, when I told my friend (who grew up in a city) that the sound she heard was a zillion tiny frogs, she didn't believe me. She thought it was distant car alarms.

Yay for hoppers, creepy-crawlers and the completion of things. Sounds like a pretty fantastic holiday so far--canine snoring notwithstanding ;)

[fenchurche]

Okay, what is in that second photo?

[rthstewart]

They are mole crabs!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerita_%28genus%29
I guess I should have explained! They are, we think, in the middle of spawning, because they are EVERYWHERE. Which is nice because they've been very scarce and are a general sign of health on the beaches.

[fenchurche]

Funky! I don't think I've ever seen them before...

[cyndisuesue]

Mr. J. has always called them "sand fleas" ! LOL

[adaese]

That mole crab is one of the weirdest things I've seen! My first guess was that it was actually something native to Barrayar.

[rthstewart]

And in keeping with the Barrayar theme, you can also, apparently eat them. Ahem, no thank you. I didn't even want to look at the recipe. http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-forum/showthread.php?57869-Mole-Crab-Poppers

[rthstewart]

huzzah!

[wellinghall]

After reading "Good Omens", I can only ever think of this as a plague of frog.