Leap into National Frog Month!

I grew up on fairy tales as a child.  I can never quite remember where I learned that Cinderella’s magic would run out at midnight or that Red Riding Hood was saving her grandmother from the wolf, but I had learned all these stories (particularly the Disney varieties) by the time I started school.  So had all the other girls I went to school with; we argued endlessly over who was the best Disney princess, hashing out these fairy tales time and time again.

But now that April is National Frog Month, I can remember another fairy tale.  A princess, ensconced in pink, shimmering tulle, skips out into the yard to play with a golden ball – but the ball bounces into the pond and the domain of a charming frog.  In order to get her favorite ball back, the princess has to befriend him despite her initial reluctance.  But it turns out that this frog is really a prince, turned into a frog by some spiteful witches; he needs the princess’ kiss to turn him back into a prince again. 

She kisses him, of course, and he turns out to be a handsome prince, as promised, and they live happily ever after.

But while Museum of National History has its own share of frogs this spring, none of them are handsome princes waiting in the wings.   Instead, the frogs are part of the museum’s “wet collection” – thousands of preserved aquatic species, some of which are on display outside Iowa Hall. 

Most of them are kept long-term in an ethanol solution, which helps to preserve the skeletal systems and the soft tissue of the animals; this kind of storage allows researchers to study them long after they were originally found.  The museum even has some specimens that were found during excavations in the early 20^th century, originating from places as near as the California coast and as far as New Zealand: the careful storage of these animals means we can still look at the fish today. 

 To a modern-day viewer, however, the jars can look eerie.  At first glance, the frogs almost swim in their yellow solution, but at second, they’re stuck in time for what seems like an eternity.  Their fixed positions mean we can look at them for minutes at a time, unlike the frog who hops away with the princess’ golden ball.  We can turn away for a second and look back, and they will still be there; we can come back another day, or another month, and they will still be there.

Such is the nature of all preserved animals: almost, but not quite. But there’s much to learn from these frogs.  They’re always there, giving us the benefit of multiple glances, multiple examinations, when so many things are gone in a second.  Each time we look, we see something different.  It doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering revelation about frogs, but a simple observation or a new understanding to take with us. 

And with this knowledge, gleaned from the helpful tutelage of the frogs, this April we can step out into the yard in our pink tulle.  When our golden ball bounces into the pond, as it inevitably will, we know just a little more about the frog who charms us - even if he’s not a prince.

-Written by MNH Volunteer Catherine Babikian


Can you find these and other frogs around the Museum?