Chilling thoughts

The air is quite crispy in the fall here in Minnesota. Stepping outside the house could feel the chill in the bone, in the morning or at night. I was wondering if the frog was still in the pond because it's late October.

As I found out from the website I posted below, the northern leopard frog will find their way back to the pond in the fall and spend the winter hibernating under the water, but not in the mud totally like turtles do, otherwise, they would suffocate to death.

And when Spring comes, they will start mating and laying eggs. Now back to the question. Will they find a spot in the pond that is as deep as possible? Or they don't really care... Regardless, the pond water will still be frigid cold.

Out of curiosity, I slipped my hand in my little pond... gosh! I couldn't wait to take it out of the water. Ten seconds was the longest I could bear to keep it in.

I was thinking, "what if... the frog is still in the water? Or under the floating wood?" Can it survive the winter in my little pond? The whole thing will turn into a big chunk of ice. I sneezed a little as I thought about that. I was mumbling to myself, "...can't let that happen, it won't make it!"

Illustration: Me