The Tale of the Leopard Tadpole Who Refused to Grow Legs

So. Once a upon a time there was a family that received a coupon for a free tadpole from ole Uncle Milton. Being the wise and educational, and well, let's just say it: perfect parents that they were, the parents whisked the coupon into the mail, eagerly anticipating the scientific stimulation for the brilliant minds of their two little lads. One balmy spring day in mid-April, a little tadpole traversed the roads of America to the home of this precious family. Oh! What joy! What excitement flowed through the lives of this family as a new little life found a Frog Habitat within this family's home.

Every morning, the two lads tripped down the stairs to the kitchen (yes, I did say the kitchen) to examine the tadpole and discover any changes that had taken place overnight. One week passed without change. Two weeks passed without change. Gradually, the enthusiasm began to diminish as it does for all things when the scene is status quo and you are only five or seven years old. Fortunately, the 35-year-old mother was a bit more responsible. Despite her claims that other adult residents of the home could be Responsible For Cleaning The Tadpole Cage and Feeding the Tadpole Since She Is Responsible For All the Other Pets, she was a tender-hearted lass and was chagrined to see even an amphibian suffer from lack of care. Which meant this beautiful, kind lady would weekly open the putrid cage and rinse it out and scrub it down and refill it with bottled spring water so that little Tad (so named by the five-year-old...perhaps creativity is not his strongest point) could cavort in a freshly cleaned cage.

And then, the time came for the parents to Celebrate the Love/Their Anniversary and the young ones to go over the river and through the woods to Gammy and Gampy's house. The mother told the pet sitter that she didn't need to do anything for Tad as his cage was freshly scrubbed and the food pellet had recently been placed. And guess what - Tad survived the weekend without care! And still grew no legs! Week after week passed. Stinky cage cleaning after stinky cage cleaning occurred. Empty snail shells were gently placed into the Frog Habitat by the five-year-old to encourage Tad. Alas, no legs. Threats of putting Tad in time-out or spankings offered little affect. Month One passed. Month Two passed. Month Three passed, and the poor, burdened mother wondered how long exactly it takes a tadpole to pop out some frog legs. So, she consulted Uncle Milton, and this is what he said:

"It usually takes about 90 days for a tadpole to change from embryo to froglet. The tadpole you receive will have been nurtured for about 60 to 75 days at the Frog Farm. That means you have about 15 to 30 days to watch your tadpole complete the amazing process of metamorphosis. However, each tadpole is unique and some tadpoles may take longer than others."

Clearly, Tad was nothing if not unique. Tadpole for life! The mother consulted Uncle Milton about the possibility of Tad being a mutant, but alas, Uncle Milton declined to reply. All good things having to come to an end at some point (especially since the quantity of tadpole food was a bit limited), and the mother's Fairy Godmother/Church Friend Christine mentioned one day that her backyard was host to the motherlode of a tadpole oasis: the koi pond. Evidently it was a residence for a few hundred local, more seemly tadpoles and Christine professed that there was always room for one more.

So what was it to be? Would Tad stay mutant tadpole forever to become a sushi-syle dinner for a raccoon once he entered F.G. Christine's pond? Or would the threat of imminent extinction be the catalyst for some leg evolution? Stay tuned for next week's installment of...

"The Days of Our Wildlife".