Back in February, I was cleaning out the pond from all of the leaves and sticks that had accumulated through the winter. I heard a strange, deep chirping sound and saw a rustle in the vines that hang over the back edge of the pond.

Investigating, I found a bullfrog who was in a semi-hibernetic state because of the cold temperature. I had disturbed him with the net as I was cleaning out leaves. He moved very slowly. I noticed that he was missing a front leg. I left him alone in the vines. “Let sleeping frogs lie,” is the old expression.

I told Kathy about the three-legged bullfrog. She laughed as we both imagined Stout (who is always hunting around the pond for frogs and fish) had gotten himself a frog-leg snack.

Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day. Kathy spent most of the time cleaning up the front pine beds. I spent most of the day burning the old picnic table, some scrap wood from the basement repair, and a bunch of sticks, logs, and branches that had accumulated over the winter.

As I went by the pond, I saw a bullfrog sitting on the side. I went and grabbed the net and using my rush-and-swipe technique (frogs have to think a second before acting), I got the net in front of him and he jumped right in. Stout was very excited. Sure enough, the three-legged bullfrog. While I should have put him in a bag in the freezer, Kathy has banned this recommended practice, so I let him go in the storm drain. Last seen hopping down the storm pipe. That’s #6 in this continuing saga of pond bullfrogs.

Now the twist here is, I may have an answer to the question: Do the bullfrogs climb down the storm drain some 400 yards under a street and then come back? If I spot another bullfrog missing a front-right leg, we’ll know.