The author finds tadpoles in a discarded fishbowl and cares for them as they develop into frogs. Over several weeks, the tadpoles grow legs and lungs and eventually emerge from the water as tiny frogs. The author documents their development with photos and releases the frogs into the backyard once they are fully transformed.

1. A WELL DONE FROG TALE

2. A Frog Tale Just before Christmas 2010, I found the tadpoles in the glass fishbowl I had discarded to the backyard.

3. I brought them onto the back verandah, fearing birds would eat them if they were left out in the open.

4. As they grew bigger I put most of them out into ponds in the yard. If tadpoles are too crowded they may become cannibalistic. They will be safe there, it is protected by many plants.

5. I really wanted to watch them grow though. So I kept twelve and put them into a small fish tank.

6. The taddies grew well, they were so cute. I fed them floating fish food and fish worms, used rain water in the tank and kept it clean by regular, part, water changes. By Feb 18th 2011, they were fat, healthy and had sprouted back legs.

7. I floated a stick in the tank and a plastic container lid with corks pinned to it. They will use this as an island for when they need to come out of the water, which will be soon. Without these things to rest on, they would drown.

8. Their back legs grew, lungs began to form, their mouths became broader but no arms yet. There were two in there with funny looking tails, if they develop deformities I will keep them rather than let them become food for a predator that eats frogs.

9. This is me on the morning of Feb 18th 2011, see that pot plant over there in the background behind me?

10. Look inside it … Cool huh?

11. This fine young prince appeared in my tank on the Feb 21st 2011, just three days after the last photo shoot. I swear he wasn't there yesterday! He was just a tadpole then.

12. In a comparison photo you can see the difference between my young froglet and his brothers and sisters, the tadpoles. Look at their eyes, mouths and bodies. Their tails are still fairly similar.

13. My prince has a white stripe from his mouth to his shoulder and brown stripes from his eyes to his nose, spots on his tail. He swims to the water surface about every 30 secs or so, for air. Then he just floats back down again, he's doing that in this photo, he has not yet landed on the bottom of the tank.

14. The little princess in this photo is one with a strange tail, “Pony Tail”, she's one of the tadpoles that I fear will be deformed. Compare the tails of the two tadpoles in the photo. They are very different. Only two of the twelve in the tank have these unusual tails.

15. This is “Pony Tail” and you can see her arms and hands developing so well inside her body. I think she will be a froglette very soon. Maybe she will be OK and my fears for her are un-warranted. Please give me a silent pat on the back for the photo it took a long time for me to get it for you.

16. … And I am just so proud of Prince Froglet!

17. On the afternoon of the 24th Feb, I came home to find one of the tadpoles had developed one arm and not the other. Look hard in the photo below and you can see that the froglet (in the middle) has a right arm and no left. When I look through the magnifying glass I can see the left arm is still tucked away inside the froglet’s skin.

18. The one in the middle (bottom) is “Poker” our one armed froglet. In the background (your right) you can see my new froglet sitting on the pebbles.

19. On the 24 th Feb, “Prince Froglet” was out of the water altogether and I swear his tail disappeared by the hour.

20. He is not happy here anymore. It is time for him to go and do his “thing”.

21. Ponytails development

24. He is beautiful. It was a sad day for me but a happy one too. Prince Froglet, Ponytail and Poker has gone to the wilds of my back yard. Good Luck little frogs!

25. A job well done!