It was five years ago when I had an unexpected visitor show up in my house. A tree frog had hitched a ride in one of my flower pots that I brought in the house in late fall but I didn’t notice my new roommate until months later.

And since it was still winter outside and he would be unable to burrow in for the winter, he remained in my house for several months until springtime. He seemed rather comfortable in his new home (even if in a tub and not my whole house). But he had swimming pool and a mossy green nest plus a lot of flies that I captured and turned loose in his covered tub for ready snacks.

Even when I turned him loose in the spring, he returned to his home that I left on the porch for several days before he wandered back into his normal environment, probably since I stopped catching flies for him.

Uninvited Roommate

After I had no cats left in the house, I said I wasn’t having another pet in the house and that lasted until a squatter sneaked into my house. Apparently when I brought the flower pot late in the fall, in an attempt to save the last blooming plant, I also transported something else. And when the plant died and I quit watering it, the resident in the pot had to come out looking for water. So one day, I discovered a gray tree frog on my floor (covered in lint as he must have ventured under the dryer) and it was below zero so I couldn’t release him outside.

And although today would be warm enough, I don’t know if he would be able to find a place to burrow in with the ground frozen so I guess my pet gets to stay a little longer. So it was a good thing that I learned how to catch flies alive when I was a kid for my science experiments (like painting their wings different colors and releasing them to see were they went – although my mom wasn’t too appreciative of my experiment), but at least I have food for my unwanted pet.

Froggy Friday