Last week on our group hike we spent some time playing by a pond. In a shallow area at edge of the pond the kids found a school of tadpoles. There must have been thousands of them. We pulled out our empty water bottles and lunch containers and the older kids, including Thomas, spent at least an hour catching and releasing the tadpoles. Jacob played by himself with cups of water pouring them back and fourth until all of the water had spilled out. I refilled them with pond water and he would start all over again. When it was time for us to leave we decided to bring some tadpoles home with us so we could learn more about them. I have no idea if we will be able to keep them alive, but it's worth a try.
First stop was the was the internet, of course. We watched videos about the life cycle of frogs and toads. I found out that tadpoles are supposed to be one of the easiest first pets for kids. Aparently all they need is clean (non-chlorinated) water and lettuce. So here they are in a bucket of bottled spring water and locally grown organic spinach. We added a couple of rocks to make it feel more like home.
The next day we headed to the library for an arm-load of books about frogs. Based on Frogs & Toads of the Southeast, it appears that our new pets are Eastern Spadefoot Toads. Hopefully we will find out for sure within the next 6 - 8 weeks.
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