Frogs have a reputation, earned or not, of being skittish creatures. Their physiology would almost seem to make the case by itself. With quads like that, you?d be jumpy, too, right?
This week, I hung around Oregon spotted frogs ? in truth, I?d never actually seen one before ? for an article about a prison program in Washington State that pays inmates to work with threatened and endangered species. The Oregon spotted frog, once common from Northern California to British Columbia, has disappeared from much of its territory, and the federal government plans to consider granting it protection as an endangered species.
What the inmates are learning there is that too much jumpiness, at least for a spotted frog, may not be a good thing.
Last year, in raising the frogs from egg to tadpole to adult, the prisoners were encouraged to be around the tanks a lot on the theory that the frogs ? which tend to jump more actively when people come by, for whatever reason ? might be better prepared for the real world once they were released in the wild, where they will be hunted by river otters, bullfrogs and birds.
But upon further reflection and research, biologists suggested that spotted frogs also need to know how to hide and remain motionless so hungry hunters can?t see them, and that too much excitement in the prison could be a bad thing. So with this year?s hatch of about 250 frogs, the inmates kept a greater distance, letting the little animals find their inner stillness.
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