Thursday, November 18, 2010

Paige

Paige, another fellow student, is from Darwin, Australia.

She doesn't have a travel blog, but she does have a story, which she told while the group of us students watched a downpour from the balcony outside our classroom.

Paige's story is one of drama. Of beauty. Of epic sound. Of unavoidable tragedy.

Hers is the story of Darwin frogs.



frog from at home
Photo by Dragonoletra






*The above is not a photo of Paige. 

When it rains in Darwin, the frogs come out en masse. Their chorus is so loud it is impossible to talk on the phone. You find them everywhere. Even the toilet.

Paige reports great debates as to whether or not to flush the frogs or to retrieve them for release outside. It doesn't really matter, she says, because regardless of your choice, the next time you visit the toilet, you'll see a frog's smiling face.

And this report from Australia's Froggy News:

It seems that cane toads are quite the trouble makers. Australia has long been battling with issues of toad invasion. Their introduction to these territories lead to a population explosion which has begun to threaten a lot of the local native wildlife and has been deemed one of the nation's "biggest mistakes". It's become a huge issue, with Vietnam Vets now enlisting in the war against the toads.. There are now reports that crocodile populations will go up as the cane toads provide them with plenty of prey. And even weirder, it seems that cane toads are still dangerous even after they are dead. Evidently, a fertilizer made from pulverised cane toads is now under recall because the stuff starts to explode when it ferments. And now all the neighboring areas that still aren't overrun by the croaking intruders have even added toad sniffing dogs to their border patrols. And they're not joking around either - folks caught importing cane toads into presently unravaged areas such as Victoria face enormous fines for the offense.
10:52 PM - Report Froggy News

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