2023.07.20 The Great Release

After the frog’s escape a week ago, we only had one tadpole left in the container. During this week its four legs had grown out and it turned into a frog this Thursday. Unlike the previous one, this frog swam much faster as it had longer and stronger legs. The day of letting it go into nature was coming soon. We thought of taking it to the Yangjae Stream this weekend, and hoped it would not attempt to escape before that day.

Excited to see another creature becoming a cute frog, we took many photos of it in our hands. (We didn’t have time to play with the previous frog.) We soon put it back into the container as it must have gotten stressed out due to us. After a few minutes, however, my husband, looking at the frog, called me urgently and said the frog seemed to be dead. The frog was floating on the water as if it were paralyzed. We were so shocked and rescued it out of the water. I touched the frog to see if its reflexes would respond. Luckily it moved and a few seconds later it threw up some water and began to breathe. It was still alive!

Did it pretend to be dead? Or did it really come close to drowning? We didn’t know for sure, but it was sure that it was time to let it go. We had no time to hesitate. Although it was almost 10pm, we had to undertake the emergency transport mission immediately. We headed to the stream with the frog in an ambulance, which is my semi transparent name card container. We desperately hoped it would survive until we got to the stream.

Luckily enough, the frog got more active as we got closer to the stream. Did it know that it was soon to be free? We got to the water and walked down the trail to find a good place. After 15 minutes when we heard the sounds of frogs, we knew that this was the best spot. Interestingly this place was actually called “Eco-trail” since many frogs live nearby and cross the trail. We were so happy to finally let it free into the small pond where it can have a much better life. I almost felt like a mom who sees her son graduate. It was a bitter-sweet moment.