Dear Ranger Tom,
I’m ten years old, and three years ago my family built a house near Hatchifac Lake. Every spring, our yard gets full of these cute, tiny black frogs. You can see how little they are in the pictures my mom took for me. The frogs come out of the lake, I guess, but they only come to our yard and they stay all spring. They’re all over the place – but especially in the grass. Whenever my dad has to mow, I run around and try to get all the little frogs out of the way, but I know that a lot of them get sucked up in the mower. What’s the best way to save them and still get the yard mowed because my dad says he has to mow every week even if it kills the frogs? Help!
Friend of the Frogs
Hatchifac, Michigan
Dear Friend of the Frogs,
I am so happy to see that you care about your little neighbors in nature! Many young people would not think twice about squishing those tiny frogs and would probably even offer to mow the grass just to watch them get chopped into a billion microscopic pieces. Ranger Tom and his Critter Scouts are very proud of you for taking a stand!
The only way, of course, to safeguard the lives of those little amphibians would be to preserve their habitat. From your description and the photos that you sent us, I believe that your home is built on the natural breeding ground for the Michigan Teeny Peeper Frog (Peepus Minimus). As an endangered species, the Teeny Peepers are protected by international law, and your lawn, therefore, becomes a wildlife sanctuary for the duration of the Peepers’ visit. That means that everyone in contact with these animals is legally prohibited from endangering the lives of the tiny creatures. On the basis of your letter and the photographs, you and your family should expect contact from the International Wildlife Protection Agency within the next twenty-four hours.
Therefore, my answer to your question is simple. Your father must maintain the lawn in its natural state. He cannot mow the grass until the last Peeper leaves the habitat, which must be officially documented, recorded, and filed by an official habitat specialist from the IWPA. If your father insists on mowing, you are legally bound to advise him that he is violating IWP Law #2678 Section 80.4C (Endangerment and Extermination of Protected Species 7823). You then must immediately contact your local IWPA office, who will take your father into custody. Since damaging a protected habitat and destroying endangered animals are both class E international felonies, he will either pay a fine of $150,000 or face eighteen months to three years in international prison. If you fail to notify the agency and surveillance reveals habitat destruction and species deaths, then you become an accomplice and will be brought into custody with your father until the IWPA makes a decision regarding your prosecution as a juvenile and your own possible imprisonment or remandment into state custody.
As you can see, the Peepers’ presence in your yard is a serious matter. In fact, based on the evidence you sent us, several subsections of the international law mentioned above have clearly already been violated by your family. However, since you and your father were allegedly unaware of the species’ endangered status, imprisonment is unlikely, but a fine will definitely be collected for each breeding season affected by your family’s presence and for each amphibian potentially destroyed by father’s lawn mower. Other family members and neighbors may also face legal consequences if they were aware of the frogs’ presence and did nothing to intervene. Seizure of your home and surrounding property during the spring months could become a possibility, depending on the number of frogs the IWPA observes in the habitat. Ranger Tom and his Critter Scouts hope that your family’s homeowner’s insurance policy includes an addendum for loss of home and property due to endangered amphibian preservation. Otherwise, your eviction could prove to be quite costly during those spring months.
In any event, thank you for your letter and for being such a concerned friend to wildlife! Your free Critter Scout t-shirt and stuffed Ranger Tom and Rocky toys will arriving in your mailbox within seven business days. Keep Caring, and Remember that Nature is your Nicest Neighbor!
Sincerely yours,
Ranger Tom and His Critter Scouts
I’m ten years old, and three years ago my family built a house near Hatchifac Lake. Every spring, our yard gets full of these cute, tiny black frogs. You can see how little they are in the pictures my mom took for me. The frogs come out of the lake, I guess, but they only come to our yard and they stay all spring. They’re all over the place – but especially in the grass. Whenever my dad has to mow, I run around and try to get all the little frogs out of the way, but I know that a lot of them get sucked up in the mower. What’s the best way to save them and still get the yard mowed because my dad says he has to mow every week even if it kills the frogs? Help!
Friend of the Frogs
Hatchifac, Michigan
Dear Friend of the Frogs,
I am so happy to see that you care about your little neighbors in nature! Many young people would not think twice about squishing those tiny frogs and would probably even offer to mow the grass just to watch them get chopped into a billion microscopic pieces. Ranger Tom and his Critter Scouts are very proud of you for taking a stand!
The only way, of course, to safeguard the lives of those little amphibians would be to preserve their habitat. From your description and the photos that you sent us, I believe that your home is built on the natural breeding ground for the Michigan Teeny Peeper Frog (Peepus Minimus). As an endangered species, the Teeny Peepers are protected by international law, and your lawn, therefore, becomes a wildlife sanctuary for the duration of the Peepers’ visit. That means that everyone in contact with these animals is legally prohibited from endangering the lives of the tiny creatures. On the basis of your letter and the photographs, you and your family should expect contact from the International Wildlife Protection Agency within the next twenty-four hours.
Therefore, my answer to your question is simple. Your father must maintain the lawn in its natural state. He cannot mow the grass until the last Peeper leaves the habitat, which must be officially documented, recorded, and filed by an official habitat specialist from the IWPA. If your father insists on mowing, you are legally bound to advise him that he is violating IWP Law #2678 Section 80.4C (Endangerment and Extermination of Protected Species 7823). You then must immediately contact your local IWPA office, who will take your father into custody. Since damaging a protected habitat and destroying endangered animals are both class E international felonies, he will either pay a fine of $150,000 or face eighteen months to three years in international prison. If you fail to notify the agency and surveillance reveals habitat destruction and species deaths, then you become an accomplice and will be brought into custody with your father until the IWPA makes a decision regarding your prosecution as a juvenile and your own possible imprisonment or remandment into state custody.
As you can see, the Peepers’ presence in your yard is a serious matter. In fact, based on the evidence you sent us, several subsections of the international law mentioned above have clearly already been violated by your family. However, since you and your father were allegedly unaware of the species’ endangered status, imprisonment is unlikely, but a fine will definitely be collected for each breeding season affected by your family’s presence and for each amphibian potentially destroyed by father’s lawn mower. Other family members and neighbors may also face legal consequences if they were aware of the frogs’ presence and did nothing to intervene. Seizure of your home and surrounding property during the spring months could become a possibility, depending on the number of frogs the IWPA observes in the habitat. Ranger Tom and his Critter Scouts hope that your family’s homeowner’s insurance policy includes an addendum for loss of home and property due to endangered amphibian preservation. Otherwise, your eviction could prove to be quite costly during those spring months.
In any event, thank you for your letter and for being such a concerned friend to wildlife! Your free Critter Scout t-shirt and stuffed Ranger Tom and Rocky toys will arriving in your mailbox within seven business days. Keep Caring, and Remember that Nature is your Nicest Neighbor!
Sincerely yours,
Ranger Tom and His Critter Scouts
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