furtech | The Great Polliwog Hunt

Click here for the full Flickr set!
After our humiliating loss to creatures who evolved before the dinosaurs existed, I was determined to have my revenge. I found some large-mesh cloth and designed the ultimate bullfrog tadpole trap!

I played around with ideas for a while, but quickly came to this conclusion: the final device would need to be light (even soaking wet, or the PVC pole would buckle), portable (so we could get it there in the car) and framed (so that we could pull it out with control). My epiphany was to use the hoops from an auto sunshade: if it worked, they would keep the net spread out; they would be light (adding only negligible ounces) and also be portable. That last bit was the beauty of the hoops: they twist-folded into a very small bundle (as well as being self-expanding).

Now, plans and theory are one thing, but actual field-success is another matter entirely. Everything went well: I expanded the net and settled it on one of the tadpoles' favorite branches in the water. The trap settled just under the surface and then we waited. The dogs were intensely curious and

martes waited for me to fall in.

polliwoghunt

VICTORY! After waiting for the bullfrog tadpoles to settle down again, I waited until I saw at least one of them perch on the net. Pulling it up, I realized that I had gotten several large specimens! Roz brought the containers down and pulled a dozen large bullfrog tadpoles out! HAHAHA!

Still, it says something about one's life when the greatest validation in recent memory comes in the form of out-witting a prehistoric creature with jelly for brains.