Finally! The Mega-lithic..... FROP BOG Thread! Fropaliscious!!!

[jpinard]

It's finally here! After nearly 6 months of work, a few natural disasters, and lots of help from the neighborhood kids - this hand-made Amphibian Eden is complete. A few notes before the pictures get started:

* Driftwood came from Ludington beach. My wife and I traveled 3 miles up and down the beach to find it. Oxygen in tow made this outing feel like a climb up Mt. Everest. It was worth it though as the pieces we got were fantastic.

* Our fish are tame enough they will eat right out of your hand. Same goes for a few of the larger Green Frogs (Rana clamitans) .

* The Bog serves two purposes:

#1 - A pump from the bottom of the pond, pumps water up a PVC pipe and then down into a grid that lies at the bottom of the bog. Holes in the grid allow the water to percolate up into river rock. The river rock holds beneficial bacteria that breaks down the fish waste and provides an anchor point for the plants. The plants grow hydroponically (no soil) and take up the newly Nitrogen-enriched water.

#2 - You can see a plastic grate which holds back plant material and tadpoles from cascading into the pond. Our fish love eating small frog tadpoles. They gulp them down like lollipops so the grate holds them in the safe bop.

* There's a picture limit per post, so this will span multiple posts.

My niece painting all the signs:

[jpinard]

Here are some of the Frops! Many people don’t think Frops are intelligent, but what they don’t know is not only are they super smart - but they’re viscous killers too! Here you can see a before & after of a worm laid out for sacrifice.

SACRIFICIAL WORM:


ATTACK!



Make sure you check out the following videos. It's a spectacular little recording I did (just from my digital camera no-less) of my favorite Frop trying to rip my hand off (maybe a slight exaggeration).
But yes, you can actually hear the Frop’s jaws snap near the end. I barely came away with my life!

Frop Attack!! (~6 Meg) http://www.jeffpinard.com/Frop_attack.mp4

alternate (~5 Meg) http://www.jeffpinard.com/8-22-2008%...2video_001.mpg

[jpinard]

Now for a brief history! The following pictures are in chronological order:

1. This past winter our pond sprung a leak when a rock was dropped in it, so we had to re-do it if we didn’t want to keep adding water every day. This picture shows our little helpers trying to catch the fish before we tore up the old pond. You can see an ugly dirt pile behind them where the new bog is now situated.






2. Here you can see the pond is drained and the base of the bog is in.





3. We had massive rains and flooding this past spring. While we were reconstructing the pond, the pond collapsed in on itself causing several weeks of additional backbreaking work. Here you can see our feeble attempt to hold back the soil.





4. The bog and pond are complete and the plants are just starting out.

[jpinard]

5. Fully completed bog (the lower ring level is a specific graduated step designed so the Frops would not have such a high jump to get back into the bog. You can see just how much the plants have grown.




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Here you can see some of the critters that have taken up permanent residence in the Frop Bog:

Damselfly:



Dragonfly Nymph attacking (and then eating) a Honeybee:

[jpinard]

Tiny Frop still getting all his nourishment from his shrinking tail:




This female Frop is getting fat from us feeding her:




Bop Shrubbery!


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For more pictures of the pond, frogs, fish, other critters go to our site here:
http://www.jeffpinard.com/The%20Fish...20Page%201.htm

[jpinard]

and...
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...............TO BE CONTINUED...............

[Miramon]

I for one welcome our new batrachian overlords.

[Bill Dungsroman]

Totally fucking wow, jp.

[Euri]

I approve!

[Lunch of Kong]

Jeff, I'm blown away with what you've accomplished here. One small step for man, one giant leap for frop-kind.

[Rward]

That is Absolutely Awesome!

Where is your catalogue for ordering?

[Tom Chick]

Awesomest thing on Qt3 since, well, maybe forever. Great work, Jeff!

Also, the frop in that first video you posted is the stuff of horror movies. Keep an eye on her.

-Tom

[Kunikos]

For some reason it made me think of the raining frogs part of Magnolia.

[Sol Invictus]

That's quite an impressive, and ambitious project. I'm glad to see it turned out as well as it did.

Are you sure you're not my dad? He's working on something similar.

[Equis]

Totally awesome JP.

What are you using to take the macro shots?

[Talisker]

What's the gate price to visit the Frop Bog?

[Hans Lauring]

I will now put my house on the market, sell at a loss and buy one with a garden big enough for a frop bog. You have shown me, what my life is missing.

Awesome project and awesome pics - it's also cool how you involve your nieces.

[Sol Invictus]

I'll never doubt my dad's project again.

[wumpus]

Frop bog. It brings a tear to my eye, it does.

[Rimbo]

*thunderous applause* ow ow ow ow ow ow ow

Sorry about the "ow's"... I stabbed my hand with a serrated steak knife yesterday... anyway...

*continues applause* ow ow ow ow ow ow ow

[Chris Nahr]

There is not a Frop in the whole world that would not want to hop into such an excellent bog!

[marxeil]

Just a question, how do you deal with mosquitoes hatching in the pond? Are they taken care of by frogs and fish?

[Thoro]

This is totally awesome. The last pictures with the end result really drove it home how much work it must've taken to construct something like that. Very, very nicely done, Jeff!

[Hawkeye Fierce]

I love that you actually made a sign saying "Frop Bog." Awesome work.

[Robert Sharp]

Perfect Frop Bog! Approved by Qt3!

[graller]

I have to admit it looks amazing. And the signage is terrific. How much money do you think you invested in it all together?

[Machfive]

I want to Digg the Frop Bog!

[Griddle]

The second to last photo is now my desktop background, you have made some seriously backyard scenery there. Is is as calming as it looks, because if it is, you must have like zero stress sitting out there, and I bet it sounds really cool at night.

[Kunikos]

Just a question, how do you deal with mosquitoes hatching in the pond? Are they taken care of by frogs and fish?

As someone who is allergic to mosquito bites, I'm also curious.

[Tyjenks]

Sweet!

Nothing clever to add, but such an accomplishment deserves a "Sweet!" at the bare minimum. Nice Work!!!