As crazy as it sounds, frogs can fall from the sky. Such events happen when a wind storm passes over a body of water that is teaming with the little hoppers, picking them up and dumping them else where. I know this is true because my Aunt Trisha and Uncle Benny drove through a frog storm in Richland Hills in 1955. They were astonished as the rain threw tiny frogs on their windshield and the road became a virtual frog graveyard.

Though it may not have actually rained frogs this summer in Parker and Palo Pinto Counties, it might as well have. They are everywhere! I refuse to walk around the block at night without a flashlight for fear of stepping on one. I know they’re out there in the dark, because each morning when I walk the dogs, the road is littered with frog road kill.

We also have a “froggy” problem in our back yard. Frogs inhabit the space like it’s a five star hotel. Normally I would welcome them as they’re so good for the environment and eat bugs that kill my roses and plants, but my dog Rebel (see pictured with me) has become obsessed with them.

Rebel is a frog licker. He is addicted and needs a twelve step program.

Now I’ve had frog-licking dogs before, but usually they only try it once. When frogs are licked or sense danger they secrete a toxin from their skin that is very bitter and cause dogs to foam at the mouth. Our little Border Terrier, Rosie, experienced it once and didn’t go back for seconds. However, she acts as an accomplice to Rebel because she’s an excellent frog hunter. Once she locates one, she gently paws at it to make it jump. She finds this vastly entertaining until Rebel runs over and starts licking the captured frog like a Braum’s double scoop ice cream cone. He immediately begins rabidly foaming at the mouth but keeps on licking! What a pleasant surprise for me when I let him back in the house with his slobbery frog foam chops! I wet a towel and wipe him down – try to clean the inside of his mouth as well and he goes off to have a rest – job well done for him! This is especially disgusting at night when my husband lets him in our bedroom door and he jumps on the bed to wipe his face! The problem has become so predictable that I had to shave Rebel’s beard close so he’d be easier to clean.

There are toads that live in Colorado and Florida that are known to be toxic enough to kill dogs that lick them, but thank goodness our north Texas toad’s venom is not deadly. Dogs are curious by nature and have a tendency to hunt small game, or explore out-of-the-way places such as woodpiles, weed thickets and potted plants where frogs like to hide. I can understand this as it is their instinct, but what I can’t understand is why Rebel keeps licking them when he suffers from it every time. Could he have short-term memory loss as related to amphibians? Guess I’ll never know. In the meantime, I will continue to monitor his outdoor time closely, keep a damp towel ready and long for an early autumn.