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Health & Fitness

Tadpole Saga Punchline

Tadpoles become Froglets and head for the exit.

      I go out one night with a flashlight, a bucket, and a scooper because the street puddles are drying up. I can't bare to think of all those little tadpole babies drying up, too. It's a grand rescue.

      I went to 10 different stores: pets, hardwares, etc.., to get whatever was needed to ensure the greatest chance of survival. They were, after all, quite possibly the only survivors of that rainy week.

      After careful construction of, not one but two, amazing little habitats, the future was insured. I was God. Each habitat held approximately 700, whose responsibility it would be, to go forth and multiply to preserve the species.

      I did daily feedings. I did nightly feedings. There wasn't a moment I did not concern myself with whether or not the 1400 mouths with tails had plenty to eat. A wide variety of tasty treats were provided to encourage even the pickiest of eaters.

      Legs burst forth by the hundreds all at once. The sun set. A chorus of Little Grass frogs rose around me from the nearby flora as I photographed the latest developmental changes. The rains exploded from the night sky and dozens of little tree frogs began climbing up the walls of the habitat answering the call of the wild.

      I ran around in the rain, in the middle of the night, all night, catching the little froglets as they jumped and transported them to the forming rain puddles they started in. This way when the puddles dry up, the froglets will simply climb away into the grass.

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      Having survived a splendid rainy night of serving nature and the future of the planet, and feeling very proud of my accomplishment, I decided to go have lunch. I set off on foot for Neptune. Not a block from the house there remained one pool formed in the night by the torrential rains. The puddle water rippled as I drew near. There were a few hundred tadpoles near the same age as the ones I'd saved, swimming as though their puddles had never, ever dried up. Somehow, they had survived.

      Nature is a powerful thing. It rarely requires me to do anything other than behave myself and stay out of the way. There are still 2 species remaining in the habitats. They probably have 1 to 3 days left in their metamorphosis. I expect it will be an exciting 3 days. The experience was well worth it, even if it was completely unnecessary.

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