Our frog seems to be a mute. At least I haven't heard him singing yet. I thought he had left, but yesterday when I took the top off a skimmer, there he was staring up at me.
I have been thinking about your pool frog this morning. Silent frogs tend to be very smart frogs. When a frog senses that it is in danger, one of its best defensive strategies is to sit still in absolute silence. I've often followed water snakes as they hunt along the edge of rivers up here. When a water snake encounters a frog in the vegetation along the shoreline, the frog will immediately freeze, staring into space as though it is unaware of the danger. It must take tremendous courage for them to sit, unblinking and entirely motionless, while an extremely capable predator slithers all around it. Incredible as it may seem, the snake will more often than not, leave the frog where it is and move along down the river. But if the frog were to attempt to hop away, it would be done for in a flash, because water snakes are quick and deadly hunters.
So, when your frog sits in the pool, silently staring into space, he or she is just playing things safe.. in case a water snake happens to come slithering by.
Actually, your story reminds me a little of a cartoon that I haven't seen in years. I think it was a Warner Bros. one about a frog that could dance and sing Broadway musical songs... Hello My Rag Time Gal, or something like that. It would sing and dance for the man who discovered it, but when he tried to show it to anyone to get rich, it would sit still, looking silent and stupid. Maybe your frog just doesn't want to be in show biz.
(o: |
