When Camouflage Goes Wrong

When I was a kid, we had a black miniature poodle named Buster. He was smart, in a doggy kind of way. Buster knew a lot of tricks. He knew his toys, and family people, by name. When it was bedtime, he resisted being sent to his sleeping place, the basement, by playing dead. That makes him as smart as a toddler, right? Because the Ex-Mayor my sister's husband says their daughter used to do that.

"If she doesn't want to do something, she does the Dead Dog Flop. She flings herself down on the floor, and all bones leave her body. She goes limp, so you can hardly pick her up."

One thing Buster wasn't very smart about was hiding. If he was in trouble, he'd stick his head under the couch. It wasn't high enough for him to crawl under. Only his head would fit under the ruffle. Yet he thought he was hidden, because he couldn't see US.

Here's another critter that thought it was hidden.

Even when you think you're swimming alone in Poolio... you might have a companion! The Pony discovered this uninvited guest a couple weeks ago, in the ladder grip. Don't go thinking we have giant frogs in Hillmomba! Farmer H says this little niche is about the size of a quarter. So it's an extreme closeup.

He actually looks more toady than froggy. While we don't have GIANT frogs around the Mansion, we have many. They're always getting caught in Poolio before the official opening. Under the cover, in the filter, aimlessly swimming. I do like to hear them peeping when spring rolls around.

I haven't seen one this color. Perhaps he's a tree-dweller. How could he get into that hidey-hole? I'm pretty sure he didn't hop. Maybe he has those suction-cup toes.

The fake fish pond has frogs. They sound like bullfrogs. I only see one occasionally. I know there's more than one, because right now the fake fish pond is full of tadpoles. A fact I discovered when taking Farmer H a hot dog for lunch, while he was spraying weeds.

"Is it raining?"

"No. Just cloudy."

"Why are there only raindrops hitting the fish pond?"

"There's no raindrops."

"Oh! Wait! Something is in there. It's TADPOLES! Coming to the surface. I just saw one. They're all over. I guess they come up to eat a gnat as it lands on the surface."

One good thing about a frog infestation. They don't carry the cat kibble up into the air cleaner under SilverRedO's hood. Make that two good things. We don't have a mosquito problem.