Yep Lizards and snakes. I love snakes. Was never allowed to have one as a pet when I was a kid, and don’t have one now. Maybe one day.
I did however has lots of little friends when I was a kid: lizards, yard snakes and frogs. Especially frogs.
This True Tail takes place in the early 1980’s when I was about 7 or 8 years old. My dad was stationed at Canon Air Force Base in New Mexico, and we lived on the base. Behind our house was a big open field with lots of trees and bushes. Off to the west of the house was a tennis court and basketball court. Just behind them was a small ravine.
The area around the ravine had an ecosystem all its own. Beautiful tall trees, lush bushes, a ton of mud. In the bushes and ton of mud where a ton more of FROGS. All types of frogs lived there. From tiny little tree frogs, to huge Bull Frogs.
This tale is about one particular Bull Frog I name Bully!
Bully Frog
That is, Mom wouldn’t let me keep him when she found out I had him in the house.
When I finally caught him, I put him into a bucket and loaded the bucket down with bugs for him to eat. I took him home, snuck him into the house and hid him in my room. I took a long storage container from the garage and turned it into a habitat.
I filled it with some mud, leaves, dead bugs and a little tray of water. I did this one day while my parents were visiting the neighbors next door. I hid him under my bed – smart move! He was there for about three or four days. I feed him more bugs each day and took him out at night and let him hop around – while my parents slept.
Then I came home from school and found the container from under my bed sitting on the kitchen table. Mom found Bully! I was in trouble! First thing I did was check the container and make sure he was okay. He was.
Then I faced the music. Mom wasn’t upset over Bully. She was more upset that I brought dirt, mud and bugs into the house, and the mess underneath my bed.
I argued to keep Bully that I would take care of him, play with him. She argued that keeping him wasn’t right, he might have a family (typical mom arguments, right?). I was allowed to keep him until the weekend then I would have to let him go.
It came to fast for my 7 or 8 year old self. I knew mom was right, but still . . .
I put him on the step to the front door, and sat down with him and feed him. He actually ate out of my hand believe it or not. Eventually he hopped around exploring our small enclosed front patio. After a few minutes I picked him up, to take him back to the ravine, but not before I did something.
I put a stripe down his back with a red marker. I could see it clearly when I finished. He didn’t like it though and squirmed out of my hand and jumped to the ground. He hopped off toward the ravine. I followed him all the way until he hopped into the base of a bush and out of sight.
I put some food at the area where I last saw him, waited for a few minutes, then went off to play with some friends at the basketball court.
I don’t know how long I was there, but when I heard mom calling I ran home. I checked on the way back, and the food was gone. I was sad that I couldn’t keep him, but glad that I knew where he would be.
Here’s the part that you won’t believe, but it’s true. A few days later I was leaving the house and there was a big frog in the front, enclosed patio just sitting there, with a red stripe on its back! It was Bully! I quickly picked up my little friend and feed him. I also showed my mom that he came back.
I didn’t keep him. I let him go.
Every so often, Bully would show up on the front porch looking for food, and I gladly feed and loved my little buddy. Today, as an adult thinking back I realized he probably came looking for food, and knew where to find it. I probably knew that somewhere deep inside as a kid too, but I thought that he also came to see me.
- Ace Masters
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