Frog Frolic Features Family Fun in Franklin

The sound of children laughing and frogs croaking echoed through the trees and around the edges of the Wehr Nature Center’s vernal pond, as children and parents knelt around the water’s edge. They were using recycled Cool Whip containers and yogurt cups to scoop pond water, and with the aid of microscopes, were able to peer into those containers to see all the tiny creatures swimming in the pond water. The Thompson family was able to catch a variety of creatures in their containers, ranging from mosquito larvae to tadpoles.

“I really enjoyed capturing the fairy shrimp,” said 8-year-old Noel Thompson. “They were really cute, and they liked to swim around a lot.”

Families across Southeastern Wisconsin gathered at the Wehr Nature Center on Saturday, April 19 for the 32^nd annual Family Frog Frolic. The event consisted of interactive activities including a frog quiz, frog puppets, a PowerPoint about frogs and other local amphibians, a “meet-n-greet” with some local amphibians, and a voyage to the Wehr Nature Center’s vernal pond.

“I really enjoy all of the different programs they do here,” said Noel’s mother, Kim Thompson. “Plus, the trails and lake are good places to come for a nice walk.”

Bev Bryant once again ran this year’s Family Frog Frolic. She has led every Family Frog Frolic since the event’s inception in 1993, and she is very fond of frogs.

“They are so bizarro,” Bryant said. “They are like aliens from outer space that live here on our planet with us. They come in all sorts of different cool colors, they do really weird things and they make cool sounds.”

During Bryant’s PowerPoint presentation about frogs and other local amphibians, she recalled one of her most exciting experiences from a past event.

“One of the coolest things that has happened during one of our frog frolics was not even with a frog, but with one of their cousins — the salamanders,” Bryant said. “We got up to the frog pond and right by the pier, there was a big mass of amphibian eggs. We did a little sleuthing, and they turned out to be spotted salamander eggs. Of course, we carefully put them back where we found them and let them become salamanders.”

It was the first time the Wehr Nature Center confirmed that they had spotted salamanders living there, according to Bryant.

During the amphibian “meet ‘n greet,” parents and children got to meet  Hopper the toad and Sandy the tiger salamander. Both Hopper and Sandy partook in a live feeding demonstration for the crowd as Bryant fed them some insects to show off their feeding instincts. The attendees also got to meet a handful of green frogs that a Wehr Nature Center volunteer managed to capture the night before.

Jamie Ramel enjoyed this portion of the event the most. He attended this event with his wife, Jackie, his 7-year-old granddaughter, Ava, and his 5-year-old grandson, Killian. 

“I most liked getting hands-on with the frogs down on the floor in the classroom,” Jamie said. “I also enjoyed watching them feed the salamander.”

“I like that we got to learn so many new things and see some of the animals we talked about tonight,” Jackie said.

Jamie and Jackie have experienced firsthand just how passionate their grandchildren are about all things animal related.

“My grandkids, and especially my granddaughter, are totally into any nature and animal stuff,” Jackie said.

“Ava is really interested in insects, reptiles, and amphibians,” Jamie said. “She also really likes to get muddy and turn over rocks to see what she could find, so we brought her here to open up her mind.”

“I like bugs, creatures, and other scientific stuff,” Ava said. “My favorite part of the event was catching the fairy shrimp because they’re so cute.”

The journey to and from the Wehr Nature Center’s vernal pond was also action-packed, as the hiking occurred during what Bryant called “the golden hour.” This was when the daytime, or diurnal, animals started going to sleep, and the nighttime, or nocturnal, animals began to roam. During the trips to and from the vernal pond, the trails featured everything from turkeys resting in the trees, to coyote scatt people had to dodge on the ground; all while the sounds of wood frogs and calls from birds known as woodcocks filled the air at dusk.

The next big event for Wehr Nature Center will be Reptile Night on June 9.