I know, we see frogs everywhere there is water, but have you noticed that there are fewer lately. I know this is not the season to be out there worried about frogs, at least not yet. Frogs have been around since before the dinosaurs, and if you haven't noticed, have been a lot more successful. They are also very diverse, and wide-spread. Frogs can live almost anywhere, even the desert. There they mate and absorb as much water as their bodies can hold during the rainy season, then burrow underground and hibernate until it is wet enough for them to come back out, that can be as long as three or four years! In areas like New England, where it is cold during the winter months, they cannot live in the cold. They again bury themselves underground until it is warm enough to come out. They actually freeze and then thaw their living tissue while they hibernate, something that scientists would love to perfect for use in organ transplantation.

There are many beautiful and unique species of frogs that fill in our world; but now they are threatened. It seems that their absorbent skin that makes them different from so many animals, is the very thing that may cause their downfall. They are absorbing pollutants! But even in places in the world that seem so totally untouched by man, they are disappearing. In the rain forests of South America there is a species of frog that hasn't been seen since 1989. How-ever, first nearby in the same cloud forest is a species of tree frog that is thriving and has a very large population. Our modern world, however, may be adversely affecting them. It has been found that ultraviolet rays kill a high percentage of the eggs and retard the development of the few tadpoles that survive. It seems that this incredible creature with all its diversity and astounding features is being destroyed by the same civilization that may gain from its existence. Frogs are extremely adaptable, but with these current and rapid changes, the frogs cannot keep up. I believe, this time, we should adapt for the frogs. ^