The fact that frogs are evil creatures who constantly conspire against me is something that has been well documented on this blog. Today was a new high mark for the "Frog vs. Ron" saga. I am fairly sure that frogs on Pond Seventy-Two practice witchcraft.
When I exited the truck to begin the survey, I heard a bullfrog calling from the corner of the pond. I carefully made my way toward the trill sound. I could hear my amphibian foe right next to me, but was unable to locate him.
Standing quietly, I intently scanned the base of the reeds for several minutes. When I finally located the source of the frog calls, I found him staring at me. The frog was hiding slightly more than an arm's length away.
At this point, I has two options. I could try to catch this little bugger with my bare hands or I could attempt to net him. Since this was the first time I had brought my fishing net from home into the field with me, I opted for the net.
When I swiped down I could see him trapped under my net. "Nowhere to run to now", I thought to myself with a grin. That's when it happened. As I raised my net, the frog was completely absent. In place of the frog was a large female banded sac spider speeding toward me. I have no doubt that some form of frog dark arts is responsible for this trick.
Highlight: Largely due to my new Chest Waders (Thanks Dad!!), I was able to reach places which I had not previously been able to survey. When I finally returned to the truck at the end of the day, my feet were dry for the first time since we began this journey three weeks ago.
Lowlight: I also returned to the truck completely empty handed. Another frog lured me into a treacherous area of the pond. Before today, I had never climbed a tree underwater before. I do not look forward to attempting that again.
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