Some people have expressed the belief that Kirkby Times reports a bit too much on the bad
news but the following story is one which should warm your heart unless your Jim Keight. The story begins as a local
woman reported a frog in her garden - luckily I was there to assess the situation.
I noticed a frog sitting in the grass and immediately knew that this was a chance
to do the 'right thing' - luckily for the frog, I was not French!
Local Woman Scared!
The frog had somehow gotten into someone's back garden in the Northwood area
- a fair distance from any water; although it's possible it may have sought refuge
in a small garden pond and emerged to get lost among the back gardens. It had emerged,
hopping wildly to scare the woman who spotted the creature. That's where Kirkby Times
stepped in.
A mission of mercy!
The frog was difficult to catch - I went to grab it and it hopped way -
after a few attempts I caught the frog and placed it in a plastic container.
Before I placed it in there I poured a bit of water on the frog to cool it down.
As most people know here in Kirkby, the River Alt is only 5 minutes from Northwood;
I was on a bike so I knew the frog wouldn't be in discomfort for long. I placed the
plastic container in a bag and set off, going fairly slow so as not to disturb the
frog.
Frog Paradise (almost)
I decided to go up to the stretch of the river alt in Westvale, there's plenty
of places the frog could head to from there - also - there was plenty of food for it,
and obviously some water, which makes for a pretty decent place for a frog. I got off
my bike and opened up the bag and placed the plastic container on the ground before
climbing down to the river bank.
Below - nearly there! - the frog is freed. Also in the photo is one of my Training shoes.
Frog Freed!
As soon as the lid was off the plastic container - the frog jumped out and looked like
it was pretty happy to be free. It hopped into the mud where it stayed for a while,
looking around its new home in the River Alt. Finally, it hopped into the water, which
it likes best, and stayed there for a few seconds before swimming off to get something
to eat and check out what the other frogs were doing. I took one last look and watched
as the frog swam along the river. One small leap for the frog, but perhaps a giant
leap for Kirkby Times, as this story has a happy ending! ;-)
Below, Free at last! - the frog swims off into the River Alt
The End.
