When Andy was 7 he was already showing signs of interest in everything about the natural world. When we went to the library he always wanted the books about planets or volcanoes or dinosaurs or fish. I got him a subscription to "Zoo Books" which was (and still is) a publication about animals designed for kids. We had (and I still have) a membership to our zoo and spent a lot of time checking out all the animals. Another publication that I bought for him was a magazine that included science project ideas for little kids. And that's how we got Whiskers.
It was called a "Grow a Frog Kit". We were guaranteed a live tadpole which would come in the regular mail to our house. I was as fascinated about it as Andy. We had tried catching tadpoles and little frogs on camping trips and picnics and that had never been successful. I remember a time we were in Mexico - Andy must have been about 4 - and he found a small crab near our hotel and wanted to bring it back with us. I told him he needed to leave it where it was as that was his home, but he worried about it being too far from the beach. Later that evening we found it in the hotel swimming pool, got him out and took him down to the beach ourselves. Hopefully the little crab did ok after that.
Andy was also very fond of turtles and looked at them every time we were in a pet store. I was pretty sure it would be hard to keep one of those as you needed a heat lamp and special care to keep them in the mountains. Not something I wanted to deal with. I had never had any luck with fish so was not eager to take on a turtle.
So, why was I so willing to order a tadpole? I can't tell you! I guess because I was so curious about how a tadpole could come in the mail and then turn into a frog right in front of my eyes. So we ordered the "Grow a Frog Kit."
I can still see the look on the mailman's face when he knocked on my door and asked if I knew what was in the Styrofoam cup that said "live animal" on the outside. I explained about the tadpole and he seemed incredulous! "There's actually a live tadpole in there?" "Well, that's what's supposed to be in there. Would you like to take a look with us?" So, I invited him inside and together, with Andy, we took apart the packaging and sure enough, there was a little tadpole swimming around in the cup! In a separate package there was a special tank and tadpole food and instructions on how to prepare the tank and feed the little tadpole and watch for him/her to turn into a frog.
She arrived at our house on November 6, 1989 as marked in the little booklet that came with her. Andy named her Whiskers because she looked like a little catfish and actually had whiskers on her little face. According to notations that I had made in the booklet, her arms and legs appeared on December 1 and by December 5 her tail had disappeared and she was a real frog!
In the Q and A section of the booklet there is this question: "How long can my Grow a Frog live?" The answer they give is: "The average lifespan is about 5 years, but record is 15 years." When Whiskers was getting ready to turn 20 I found the website for the company and sent them a message about Whiskers's age. I thought for sure she had broken the record! They were awesome and responded within just a few days. They congratulated me on having such a healthy and long-living amphibian, but told me that the new record was 28 years. And so, I told Whiskers that she had to live to be at least 28 and hopefully 29 so that she could be the new record holder! Who would ever have imagined that one little frog could possibly live that long. She may just make it!
There is nothing else in the aquarium with her. The booklet had said that we needed to avoid anything that might damage her fragile skin and over the years as she lived longer and longer I was afraid to try anything new for fear that it might "do her in". Andy is afraid that she is bored with nothing to do all day, but she enjoys swimming and stretching out where her feet are on the bottom of the tank and her head is up close to the surface of the water. She knows her name and if you call her she'll come swimming up to the top. If you ask if she's hungry she'll try to stuff food into her mouth even if I haven't dropped the Reptile Logs in there yet. She splashes and "sings" and I can tell when she wants me to change her water because she stops singing! She is quite entertaining!
So, Happy Birthday, Whiskers! Hang in there for another couple of years so you can be in the record book! I'm so happy that my friend/former student/house sitter Jamie has offered to take her when I move to France. Although Jamie told me that it's really her dad that would like to have Whiskers :-) But I have no doubt she will be well taken care of.
Thank you for reading this week's post. Not everyone can say they have a 26 year old frog! So, I had to brag. And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Enjoy the time off to spend with family and friends and to be grateful for all we have. And for me that includes all my four-legged babies - furry or otherwise! :-)
I love Whiskers so much! Every time I've gotten to take care of her, she just fascinates me! When I told me dad about possibly adopting her, he was just as excited as me so between the two of us, we are going to love having her! =)
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt she will be quite happy in your care!
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