2010 The year of the Frog

2010 Year of the Frog2010 was a great year for amphibians at the nursery. Per usual the year got kicked off with the Spring Peepers. They peeped and peeped. It was loud but not quite as deafening as in past years. I thought all the that five legged frog stuff was on its way when the season kicked off and the peeping level was down.However, we saw tree frogs in good numbers. They were quite calm as tree frogs generally are. We had some real nice size bull frogs hanging in the nursery around leaky hoses. Apparently a leaky hose provides a nice microenvironment for the bullfrog straying from its native habitat down at the wetlands.I do not think I saw a single salamander this year. Sometimes you see them sometimes you don’t. Someone told me they were endangered a few years ago and I have looked for them ever since then. Not to catch but just make sure if I found one in a tree hole I could relocate him to a spot under a tree in some brush.Toads were all over the place. Big toads medium toads were here in solid numbers. The conditions must have been just right because we ended up with baby toads everywhere once we got to mid summer. Amphibians have been a big concern in past years for me. I have always loved these animals. Many reports have claimed their numbers falling in past years. I am happy to say they are staying about the same if not increasing ever so slightly minus the spring peepers at the nursery. Turtles made a good showing this year as well. I even saw a soft shell turtle sprinting across Hartman road to get to a neighbors pond. Yes sprinting!! It was quicker than most rabbits!! My Father in law saw it the day before I did sprinting across the same road. He was as shocked at the speed of this turtle as well as I was. Butterflies made a good showing this year as well. They have been a concern the past couple of years as well. As a result we are starting to carry butterfly houses for sale in the nursery. These houses are made in the USA by a man and his 3 sons in Northern Wisconsin. As you and I know if its made here in the USA its quality baby.We had a bat inside mission control about a month ago as well. Once again as a result we are carrying bat houses so these homeless bats stop trying to move in with our human family. I got the bat out of the house by opening the door and relying on its sonar capability for him to find his way out of the house on his own. Is sonar told him there was an open door behind him and me following him erratically with a big blanket that I was using as a mobile wall. It worked!!! This is the second time in my lifetime we have had a bat in the house. The first time animal control got the bat out of the house.Birds, birds, birds. We started feeding the birds this past year again. My Dad use to feed the birds. It’s a part of this place we lost for about the last 5 years or so. Now we are not just feeding the birds but selling premium quality birdfeeders and birdseed as well. I have been looking for feeders made in America. All the feeders we are carrying are very high quality. If you are into feeding the birds you may want to pop in and take a look at the selection of feeders, suet cakes and bird food we are stocking now.At Blue River Nursery we are expanding our product line to include things that fit into our core values that make the nursery more dynamic than it is. Ceramic pottery, benches, and some of the tools we prefer to work with in the nursery are our offerings at this present time. As time goes on we will be expanding our product line. On the web site these products will show up on the accessories page.If there is something you are looking for that deem useful,but are having a hard time finding let us know about it.