Frog in the Drain

Here is a post that will hopefully put a smile on your face. Well, as most of you know I teach two sections of Aquatic Science at my high school. This year for the first time I was able to scrounge around and get enough tank parts so my students can actually set up and run either a saltwater or freshwater tank. I will have a total of 10 student tanks running plus two of my own personal ones. Some of the goals of this project are for students to be able to determine how many fish can go in their size tank and which fish/other aquatic animals are compatible to have in the same community. Well, my first group brought their fish in after school today. In their tank, they have two albino frogs, two catfish, a suckerfish, and a needlefish. The boys mentioned that the needlefish is aggressive and eats minnows and small goldfish. Hmm, sounds a little dangerous to me. Since I have no experience with needlefish, I did a little research on the internet about them and found out that they are very aggressive. Then I went to Petsmart to pick up some more tank supplies and talked to the fish lady there. When I told her exactly what they put in the tank, she said gave a frightened look and said that I need to get the frogs out of the tank or else they will be eaten by the needlefish. So back to school I went on a rescue mission to save the two albino frogs. When I got back to my classroom, the frogs where still there. Yea!! Okay so now here is the tricky part rescuing the frogs and putting them in a new tank. In my infinite and very tired wisdom, I decided I could just scoop up the frog with a net and put it in a new tank. But one small thing that I forgot was frogs are not like fish and they JUMP!! Okay so I tried to rescue the first frog and it leapt right onto my counter. Oops, so then began the great frog chase. I chased it around my counter for awhile before it jumped into my sink. As I chasing it around the sink, I noticed there was a piece of paper towel where the drain is and thought if that paper moves the frog might go down the drain. Now any sane person would have stopped and plugged the drain. But did I do that. NO. So wouldn't you know it the frog went down the drain. I went and retrieved a flashlight and saw that the frog was sitting in the bend of my pipe. It looks like some of my students dumped some rocks down the drain creating a little pool of water that he is floating in. Now what to do? I tried putting more water down the drain hoping that it would fill up the drain enough for the frog to swim out. No such luck. I looked at seeing if I could take the pipes apart myself but alas no tools. The only other option was to leave the frog in the drain and send an email to have the custodian come in first thing tomorrow and help take apart the drain. Of course knowing my custodian he will laugh and give me a hard time first. He may even grumble a little about having to take apart my sinks. I am crossing my fingers that the frog is still alive or I owe my students a new frog.

PS I wised up for the second frog and he made a successful transition to a new tank.