National Frog Jumping Day!
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NATIONAL FROG JUMPING DAY
Observed each year on May 13th, National Frog Jumping Day is a favorite of young and old alike.In 1865, Mark Twain published his first short story, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. Later, he changed the name and published it as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. This same story also had a third title, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
The current frog jumping record was set in 1986 by Rosie the Ribeter, who jumped 21 feet, 5-3/4 inches.
While fans of Mark Twain or perhaps the Calaveras County Fair might have you believe frog jumping competitions only happen in Calaveras County, that’s just not true. They happen throughout the country and with more frequency that one might expect. Frog jumping contests happened in other states and municipalities in 1865 and the events take place across borders in the last century and this one, too. You might even know of one where you live, say in Michigan or Florida or Idaho.
However, we might have to concede, the most well-known might be the Calaveras County Frog Jumping Contest if for no other reason than Mark Twain wrote a story about it, and the author became well-known and loved for his stories.
HOW TO OBSERVE #FrogJumpingDay
Promote your famous frog jumping competition. Who’s your exceptional jumper or notorious ribbeter? Use #FrogJumpingDay to post on social media.NATIONAL FROG JUMPING DAY HISTORY
Mark Twain’s story about a pet frog named Dan’l Webster and a casual competition between two men betting on whose frog jumps higher, is the origin of National Frog Jumping Day. The annual Frog Jumping Contest, which began in 1849 in Calaveras County, California is also the origin of this holiday. The international counterpart of this celebration is February 19. -
@George-K said in National Frog Jumping Day!:
Did your guys celebrate yesterday?
Indeed they did! My froggos are excellent jumpers and climbers, when they're not busy being lazy during the daytime. At night, it's fun to check on them and watch them hunt the bugs in their houses. For the bigger frogs, the big hit now are the blue bottle flies. Those things must be really tasty!
A few of the frogs like to get attention, but holding them can be rather risky when they can leap so quickly and so far. They're still in their froggo houses in the dining room, and I'm not keen on having any of them get loose in the house. They wouldn't have any open water to sit in or enough bugs to eat.
Still, it's hard to resist one special froggo that will leap over the side of the froggo house to get up closer to me. She hangs from one of the circular ribs of the trellis frame, and she sticks her head and neck out towards me, watching me with her sweet little eyes everywhere I go around the froggo house. She looks up at me and tries to pull herself up closer. I reach in and let her walk onto my hand inside the froggo house. She loves the attention.
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@Mik said in National Frog Jumping Day!:
Are your little froggos hopping about yet? Have you released them into the wild?
It's almost warm enough to get them outdoors to the porch. The nights were too cold recently, and we had freeze and frost warnings for the last several days. In another week or so, it should be reliably warm enough at night to move their houses to the porch. They need some time to get acclimated to being outdoors, then it will be time to allow them to go free.
I'll keep the froggo houses on the porch as a place they can come back to whenever they want. The first couple days, I will give them some additional bugs to eat in the early evening as they get used to hunting outside. I will have extra bugs to use up from their current supply, so they might as well get them.
Eventually, they will no longer want to use the froggo houses, and they'll be completely fine hunting on their own in the yard. I may keep the houses set up for a while after that, too, incase one decides to come back for a nap during the day. It's surprising how much they travel around the yard, so coming up to the porch is nothing for them. They can get around just about anywhere here.
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Keep in mind their froggo houses are quite large. Each one is over seven feet tall, and about 20 -22 inches wide, with only seven tiny frogs living in each one. The frogs have a lot of space right now relative to their size. These are much larger than any commercially made frog houses.
Each house has its own pond with rocks and water, its own plants with leaves for sitting, and the framework of the trellis for climbing. They use nearly the entire space, climbing up so high I could not even reach them. It's really quite good for raising tree frogs in the dining room by the bay window and a radiator. They're pretty spoiled for indoor froggos, as they should be.
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I was curious what had happened to Jergi (?) and his paramour.
So they move into a towering condo for the winter and now get released into the wild again, some I imagine having that experience for the first time. Do tell about all their adventures.
But most importantly we need to see what you built!
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I was curious what had happened to Jergi (?) and his paramour.
So they move into a towering condo for the winter and now get released into the wild again, some I imagine having that experience for the first time. Do tell about all their adventures.
But most importantly we need to see what you built!
@Loki said in National Frog Jumping Day!:
I was curious what had happened to Jergi (?) and his paramour.
So they move into a towering condo for the winter and now get released into the wild again, some I imagine having that experience for the first time. Do tell about all their adventures.
But most importantly we need to see what you built!
No, the frogs in the condos are new ones I raised from tadpoles starting last fall.
Jurgi and his buddies have been outdoors underground for the winter. That's what wild frogs do here. They have a natural antifreeze in their little bodies that allows them to hibernate.
I'm hoping they all made it through the winter. The ground is still very cool here, but I think in the next week or two we will see some frogs emerge.
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Some frogs are bigger than others...
