Photo courtesy of the Medicine River Wildlife Centre.
The Medicine River Wildlife Centre currently has an unusual patient in care.
A Squirrel Tree Frog was recently discovered in Red Deer on a truck’s shipment from Georgia.
The small frog, about the size of a thumbnail, was found in a box with a vehicle bumper replacement.
Carol Kelly, Medicine River Wildlife Centre Executive Director explained that when the frog first came into care, the team wanted to ensure he could survive in captivity.
“For the first three or four days he didn't eat anything and then suddenly he started eating everything,” Kelly said.
Now, the team feeds the frog mealworms and crickets with vitamin supplements.
“He's eating up everything we have,” Kelly said. “I think he'll be happy in captivity.”
After consulting with the province’s biologist and disease specialist, it was determined that keeping the frog in care was the best option.
“We cleared it through Alberta environment to make sure there was no disease concern or that he's not a species of special concern,” Kelly said. “Everything was cleared, and we were free to keep him.”
Since shipping the frog back to Georgia wasn’t feasible, and he was not equipped to survive an Alberta winter, the centre decided to keep him as an education animal.
“We'll talk about how we got him, and talk about frogs in Alberta, and make it educational,” Kelly said.
Now that the frog has become a permanent resident at the centre, the team has named him Acorn.
Although taking in frogs is uncommon, the centre has taken in other unusual species such as salamanders, and snakes in the past.