Traffic Frog

Anyone who’s spent any time on the road in Costa Rica has spent time sitting in traffic waiting for something to break loose down the road. Whether it’s a one lane bridge, accident, washout or construction it’s nearly impossible to drive for more than half an hour without something bringing traffic to a halt in front of you.

It’s not always a bad thing though. I was driving down the last hill to Manuel Antonio this morning and braked quickly as I caught a glimpse of something flying into my path from the roadside weeds.

Rocket Frog (Colostethus species) - after the female lays her eggs on the forest floor and the male checks in on them until the tadpoles hatch then transports them to the nearest stream on his back. — Rocket Frog (Lithobates warszewitschii) – after the female lays her eggs on the forest floor and the male checks in on them until the tadpoles hatch then transports them to the nearest stream on his back.

I chuckled as a comical scene unfolded a few feet in front of my bumper. A large brown and black frog leapt frantically a meter at a time with a fluttering black bird stabbing the asphalt at each spot the frog had vacated a fraction of a second earlier. I swear it was nature’s staging of a scene straight out of a 40 year old Hekle and Jekle talking crow cartoon.

I don’t normally find hilarity in life or death situations, but the frog escaped to the impatients on the opposite side of the road and it only held up traffic for a couple of minutes.

Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife crossing the road. I’ve never seen anything quite like the frog and bird, but iguanas, snakes, sloths, turtles, armadillos, and anteaters have frequently blocked my way temporarily.

Traffic Frog Two

We drove around a corner in Heredia and came upon a police officer, an old lady clutching her purse in front of her, and a teen age boy with a book bag all standing in the middle of the street staring at an object the size of a plum.

I couldn’t pass so I stopped, flipped on the flashers and hopped out to see what was so interesting. It was a reddish tan and grey green rainforest frog. The boy was the bravest and swung his book bag near the frog trying to startle it into moving.

The frog stood fast and the policeman and I realized simultaneously that it was fake. He laughed, bent to pick it up, and tossed it to me asking if I wanted a souvenir. The woman scurried off squeaking in a fright not realizing the frog was rubber and I slipped it in my pocket.

Mercedes and Maria checking out the traffic frog I brought back to the house in Heredia

The next morning we were in Selva Verde walking along one of the canopy bridge paths and I felt the frog in my pocket. I couldn’t resist tucking the frog into a mossy ridge in the bank at about eye level.

I wonder how long it took it to stop traffic again…