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Since 2002, Geoff Fox has written about the offbeat and dynamic personalities that make Pasco County unique. He is now revisiting them, meeting new characters and sharing more stories. Email
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| Local News | Photos |
The Sewer Guy Came Out
Posted Jul 16, 2008 by Geoff Fox
Updated Dec 31, 2008 at 01:35 PM
Turns out the damp amphibian whose face Ironhead sat on recently wasn’t a pig frog.
One alert reader passed along pictures of a pair of Cuban tree frogs that had made themselves comfortable on her outdoor furniture. Practically white, they looked just like the stunned squatter I had tossed out the front door days before.
Turns out Cuban tree frogs are an invasive species known for cannibalism, among other pleasant characteristics (Their skin secretions can irritate the human eye), according allaboutfrogs.org.
Anyway, the county sewer people came out today to determine if the frog could possibly have maneuvered its way through our system and up through the toilet bowl, as Iron suggested.
“The guy said he’s been doing this a long time and he’s never heard of that happening,” she said. “But, he felt it was possible. He felt like if there had been a sewer problem, then we would have seen evidence in the yard, like a little sinkhole, or our toilets would have been backed up, or we’d have had issues with the water.
“His best guess was that since it was tree frog, it got up on the roof and maybe got spooked by a bird, or that it was going after bugs or something and got into our vents and into our pipes somehow. To come through the street to the sewer would have been a very long journey. He said it was possible but not likely.”
In other words, she said: “I’m accepting that he’s saying it’s possible it came up through the toilet, but not as far as the sewer.”
In other words, the guy doesn’t know how the frog got in anymore than Iron does.
Of course, Iron wasn’t real happy to be talking about the frog. As happens from time to time, a reporter quotes a person who later says she was misquoted.
Iron says that happened in my previous post, when she was quoted as saying, “A third of the people keep their [toilet] lids closed.”
“That was out of context,” she said.
“How?”
“I got that anecdotally from looking online.”
Did she tell me at the time that that nugget of information came from the Internet? No.
Does it matter that it did? I don’t see how.
Regardless, the frog episode has exhausted her patience.
“I don’t like being fodder for your blog,” she said. “Does the person you’re writing about not have any say in whether or not she shows up online? Apparently, not.”
See? She’s almost always right.
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Reader Comments
Por (William Miller) on July 17, 2008 (Suggest removal)
ROFL!!! Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you, for bringing a little bit of Tampa to Marietta.
K
Suggest removalPor (Val Myers) on July 18, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Good one!
Suggest removalPor (Val Myers) on July 18, 2008 (Suggest removal)
I forgot to ask if you heard about the lady from Maine who found an 8 foot reticulated python in her washer? Boy would iron have a field day over something like that! But who wouldn’t!
Suggest removalPor (Joe P Myers) on July 18, 2008 (Suggest removal)
I believe there are vents on the roof that connect to the plumbing. I’ve seen tree frogs on my roof. It is possible that he went down the vent and got into the plumbing and followed the source water. That would be a way in up through the toilet without going through the sewer. After a bit of research I have found there is a whole subculture of people with amphibian toilet intrusion experiences.
Suggest removalPor (Beth Castor) on July 18, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Now you need to get her the car seat cover I just bought! It is called a “Car Buddie” and it has a cute plush tree frog that sits on the head-rest. It is so great and it would be a daily reminder of all this fun!
Love you “Iron” - b
Suggest removalPor (Jill Yelverton) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
See? What did I tell you? Using your wife as column fodder can be dangerous to your health. Cuban Tree Frog trivia… they have been spotted as far south as Savannah. They’re invasive and eat our cute little green Florida frogs and should be humanely euthanized. The Cuban Tree expert himself – Steve Johnson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Wildlife Ecology University of Florida, wrote “When Cuban Tree frogs gain access through vent pipes of a home plumbing system they usually end up in a bathroom. There are numerous instances where unsuspecting people have opened the lid to their toilet only to find a bug-eyed Cuban Tree frog staring back at them.”
Suggest removalHard-headed women unite!