Smile what a lovely illustrated story, Annie. And such a pretty froggie!

My cat, Queena, would do the same in Ohio - she brought in a little mouse one day and after it was inside and gifted she had no interest in it and left to Mommy to chase and get back where it belonged.

The next year she did it with a mole - no kidding a mole with the little pusher feet - that thing scurried and burrowed as far under the little edging but the sliding glass door as it could get into - I finally got it out and Queena was NO HELP in even figuring out where it went - I tracked it better than she did - finally got in a corner and I nabbed it under a plastic container and wedged the lid underneath - carried it out to the mulch pile at the end of the drive to the condo complex and released it - that was a memory day for me and the mole. Queena, however, forgot about it I'm quite sure...

I love a good frog success story! Good for you for making it happen.

What a terrific story to start my day! I have yet to see a frog or toad in our yard and our galloping gardeners prefer to bring rodent carcasses. Not nearly as wonderful.

Thanks for the story and pics, Annie.

Does the frog live in your little pond?

Not too long ago I was putting down fresh leaf mulch around the young Service Berry tree and suddenly a big clump of brown mulch jumped up at me and hopped off! It was a big toad keeping cool under the old mulch. I felt bad for disturbing him.

With a lot of people the title would be just a figure of speech, but Annie, I sort of knew that in your case it would be literally true.

Funny story.

ThinMan

Our son has a cat that is quite a hunter. Understandable so, as he was living in a pet store near the Marine Barracks at 8th. and I St. in Washington, DC. So we say she's got some Marine blood in her. They live on 3 acres, a wooded lot with a dry creek bed in the back and more woods. This cat is quite a hunter, he's bought back a squirrel he killed and I think the last count was 3 or 4 moles. PeeWee is the nicest cat. Before PeeWee, our son had a cat from H*** and that's no lie either. I've never seen such a nasty and mean cat as Shana was. PeeWee loves the outdoors but the pet shop owner told our son that he was an indoor cat.

Our cats used to deposit little gifts by the front door.....I won't go into details.

I haven't seen one of those frogs in a long time. Cute story.

Great cat and frog story! And a frog would be so easy to hurt, it was obviously a gift for you...very thoughtful.
I'm sure the frog thanks you for your help!

Cute story! Our kitties are indoor only, but they still manage to catch the occasional anole that gets trapped on the screened porch. The story rarely ends as sweetly as yours unless I'm lucky enough to provide rescue.

Schoolhouse,

Leopard frogs live all around the yard, staying mostly under flowers and bushes for protection whilst they hunt for bugs. They are not a water frog. There is a big green Bull frog who has taken up residence in the little lily pond with the two fish. I will try to get a picture of him...or her.

There are quite an assortment of frogs and toads here.

The toads are interesting. The males are one color and the females another. I don't know which one is which, but their colors a Mars black (dark brown-black color) and the other a cinnamon color. They sing in the evenings or when their is a bit of dew in the air and after it rains. It is a very ear shattering high pitched trill. They lay their eggs in ponds just as the frogs do. They mate in the water, the males nearly drowning the females. Sometimes two or more will be trying to do the honors and the poor female drowns under their weight. If I see this, I knock one off. That might be Nature's Way, but it ain't happening under my watch, by golly!

We used to have Horned Toads but I haven't seen one in 15 years. Poor things.

As for frogs, we have several varieties of tree frogs. One is called the basque frogs because of his high pitched trill, like Basque sheep herders make. They live in the trees out in the yard. They are a beige color with an angular head and blunt snout. Very strange looking.

Another tree frog is a marbled gray with a bright orange underside on his belly and legs. They stay in the English Ivy growing on the house.

The other one we have have very pronounced balled toes and long fingers. They are tawny colored. Several live in the greenhouse. If I make a trilling noise, the sing along with me. Cute! Some summers I have seen them peeping out of the ends of the metal clothesline t-post, just singing up a storm while I watered the flowers below.

We have at least two kinds of Peeper frogs. I don't know what they are, but one variety is about an inch long and greenish brown. The other Peeper is so tiny that you would miss them if you didn't look for them. They are from a 1/16th of an inch to no more than an 1/8th of an inch in length, if that much. Teeny tiny frogs. They are jet black in color. They have BIG voices and big feet, and love to sing in early spring. They can cast their voices far off or make it sound like it is coming from a different location. Frog ventriloquists! This helps them stay safe from predators who would follow their voices to back to them.

We have two kinds of water frogs, one being the Bull Frog. They are Marine drab green with big yellow eyes and extra large mouths. They will eat anything they can get into their mouths, even each other. They can grow to be enormous in size and have big, deep gravelly voices. When they croak their throats bulging out in a big gray-green bubble like a kid blowing a bubble gum bubble. (ha ha).

And of course we have the dear Leopard Frogs. We have yellow green Leopard frogs with yellow "pinstripes" & dark brown spots and a golden Leopard frog with dark dark brown spots. and gold pinstripes. They sing so sweetly, but when they are afraid, they scream loudly to alert the other frogs. They sound like a child screaming. Good lord, the first time I heard one scream I actually thought it was a child screaming and ran to find it.

Here is a picture of Mr. Binx napping on the sofa. He is a big boy.

Binx acted as surrogate mother to all three of the younger cats (Jack Cat, Lil Brother and Miss Terra), washing them, teaching them and protecting them. Binx was dumped here when he was a tiny kitten just before Halloween, thus he was named after the talking black cat in the movie "Hocus Pocus". He is a real sweetheart of a cat and one of our "talking kitty cats". He always has a lot to say about things when we are out in the garden together. Besides walking between my feet, he loves to flop down on the ground and roll over on his back right in front of me when I am walking. What fun!

Annie, thanks for sharing such a great story, beautiful cat and cute little frog!!! I loved it! A perfect start to the day.

Carrie

Sounds like Binx was a gift from heaven.

I don't know that I would go so far as to say he was a gift from Heaven. He and Jack Cat have discovered chasing chickens is more profitable. I lost one of the little black hens the other day - I thought it was a coyote that got her based upon the evidence I found.

Well, this morning I saw Binx and Jack stalking & chasing them all over the garden, and me right out there too. So I had to round up the "Girls" and put them back in the chicken run.

Maybe it was just pay back time. The Girls had been chasing those two cats all over the yard and pecking them. I thought it was kind of funny to see the chickens chasing the cats. I even videoed it. Guess the cats decided enough was enough. And what a delicious discovery - chickens are good to eat!
At least I found out before I lost anymore of my hens. My poor Girls will have to stay in the coop. They were sure devouring bugs and insects this past week and lots of fresh green grass. They put on some good weight as a result. Such a shame they can't run free. Darn it.

~Annie

Or maybe the cats are just chasing the chickens and it really was a coyote that got the one.

If the cats had killed the hen, there would have been spare parts left that they didn't eat. There weren't any. Only two small piles of feathers.

Which takes me back to the probability of it being a coyote or the neighbors dog who has a history of doing this.

At any rate, The Girls have to stay in the pen now. :(

And Binx is back to chasing Leopard frogs and butterflies.
So far no gifts of snakes and field rats like previously loving cats have brought in the house to me.

Miss Pink was my Lioness. From the time she was just 8 weeks old, she began hunting. She dragged in rats and snakes bigger than her, her prey between her front legs as she dragged them along. She struggled but never gave up getting them up and through the kitty window and into the house, to my horror. She brought in voles and kangaroo rats. She brought in a tree snakes (Green snakes) and all manner of non-poisonous snakes...and kits (baby rabbits) - all alive. I was the one who had to capture her caches and release them outside somewhere. Imagine watching TV when all of a sudden a Shrew or a Mole is dropped at your feet.
One time she brought me something so large she liked tonot got it into the house. When she came to me with it, I could see it was large but could not tell what the heck it was. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was a large snake coiled up into quite literally a ball! When I stretched it out it measured 3 feet. It was gently released over the fence in the front yard. The vole was never caught but I finally got rid of it using moth balls. She left on her own accord. I do miss my sweet Pinkums.

Life on the Funny Farm!

You never know what the cat(s) will drag in next!
~Annie

I'm just loving the times I read your wonderful posts, Annie. What a kind and generous thing for you to share your little stories of your life. Just wonderful.

Thank you Pat of Ann Harbor. :)

That should be Pat of Ann Arbor

Annie, your Binx looks just like our Bobby Jones - we call him guardian angel and a garden manager :).
~Natalie

Natalie,
Binx still takes care of Little Brother (black with white), tiny Terra (a tortoiseshell) and Jack Cat (a ginger cat with a bit of white) like a mother cat, even though they are nearly as big as he. Binx weighs over 20 lbs - no fat, just a BIG cat. Every time my DH picks him up, he says, "Good grief, he weighs a ton!". He is V-E-R-Y long and has an extra-long, fat tail. Big boy. The vet says he is part Mainecoon. Makes sense - someone in town (about a mile from here) used to raise them, so...guess where he came from, one way or another? Anyway, we are lucky to have him. He is a sweet and lovable character. We are always more than happy to take other people's throwaways. They usually turn out to make the best companions. :)
~Annie

Annie, I don't know how I missed this thread originally but I have so enjoyed reading through it all. Mr. Binx sounds like an incredible cat. I love that he chats with you in the garden. If he come up with any good plant combos please let us know!

Annie, love your cat and your story. You have such a way with words! Binx looks so comfy on your sofa. They do take over, don't they?

I too have a kitty, he is 13 years old. He is not allowed outside as in the past we had lost several due to road mishaps. When we got this guy as a kitten I decided he would stay inside. They can be so much company, can't they? We often refer to him as the kid. Guess that tells you where he ranks in the family!

Love it!