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Animal
House Folly
Farm Blog
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They call him Hannibal. It’s a rather odd name for a frog, but it’s the right name. The first Hannibal crossed the Alps with his army and his elephants. Hannibal the Frog made a journey just as hard and dangerous. Hannibal lives at the Aquarium of the Lakes, at Lakeside, in England’s Lake District. The Aquarium isn’t just there to show fish to visitors. They’re interested in all life in the local lakes and rivers, whether under the water, or just near it. They’re also involved in helping to preserve those fish and animals, so people don’t have to go to the Aquarium to see them. One of the things the Aquarium staff do is collect frogs’ eggs, or spawn, as it’s called. The frog lays its eggs in a jelly-like mass and just leaves them. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, and, very gradually, grow legs, and lose their tails before growing into mature frogs. Lots of fish and other water creatures like to eat frogs’ eggs and tadpoles, so they’re collected from ponds, streams and lakes and taken to the Aquarium where it’s safer. They need to do this, because frogs are dying out in the wild, and they’re trying to help as many as possible grow to full size. Hannibal was hatched on the upper floor of the Aquarium, in a tank which has been made to resemble a pool in a mountain stream. When he grew into a froglet, he was released into a pond about a quarter of a mile away. Frogs usually return to the pond in which they were hatched to breed. The Aquarium staff thought that Hannibal would think of the pond as his home.
Even inside the Aquarium, there was still danger. Hannibal had to pass the enclosure where two playful otters have almost free run. Otters normally eat fish, but they will eat frogs if they’re hungry. Eventually, visitors spotted Hannibal on a walk-way, almost at the end of his long and dangerous journey. At the moment, they’re trying to decide whether they should try once more to release Hannibal back into the wild, or let him stay at the Aquarium. He’s become a firm favourite there. You often hear about animals escaping from zoos, wildlife parks and reserves. But, it’s not often that you hear about one breaking in! Find out more about Hannibal, his fellow water-creatures, and the work of the Aquarium of the Lakes at www.aquariumofthelakes.co.uk Copyright Keith Kellett, 2001. Please do not copy
in any manner, print or electronic, without permission from the author.
The article is reprinted with the kind permission
of the author.
About the Author: Keith
Kellett is a free-lance writer and photographer, living near Salisbury,
just a short distance from Stonehenge. His taste for travel, adventure,
humour and fun were undiminished by over 30 years in the Royal Air Force.
Writing & taking pictures as a hobby began in the early 1980s, and he
turned professional on retirement from active service in 1996. Since then,
he's been writing about, and photographing food and drink, old cars, beer,
steam engines, beer and brewing, historical re-enactments, beer, bygones,
gardens, travel, nature and the outdoors and beer. You can read more of
his work at www.discoveringhistory.com
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But,
when he was old enough to breed, Hannibal returned to the tank in the
Aquarium where he’d first been hatched! A quarter of a mile is a
long way for a frog, and he first had to find his way across a busy car
park. Then he had to get through the glass doors into the Aquarium, and
make his way up the two flights of stairs to his birth-place.