Frog Gets Second Shot After Run-In with Lawnmower

Recently, one ultra-tough green tree frog from Australia's Northern Territory got a second shot after a close encounter with a backyard lawnmower.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on May 15 2009

Green Tree Frog. Image by Stephen Barnett

We’ll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say, lawnmowers and frogs don’t tend to mix well.

But recently, one ultra-tough green tree frog from Australia’s Northern Territory got a second shot after a close encounter with a backyard lawnmower. The lawnmower blades cut off the top layer of the frog’s skin, and took a nasty swipe at the amphibian’s internal organs.

“It was a pretty horrific injury,” veterinarian Stephen Cutter of the Ark Animal Hospital told the Northern Territory News. “But from day one she fought to live.”

Although the frog was no one’s pet, the vet and his team took great care to nurse the frog back to health. It took the medical team half an hour to clean out the wound and stitch the frog’s skin together, saving her life. The operation wasn’t without risks, however: “Frogs are very delicate and sensitive to chemicals and toxins,” said Dr. Cutter. “So we had to be really careful when using any products on her, especially when cleaning out the wound.”

Now the frog, which the team has nicknamed “Victoria,” has had a month to recover from her horrific injury, and is about to be released into the wild in Litchfield National Park near Batchelor, Australia.

The vet says that the tough-skinned Victoria now has “as good of a chance as any other frog” of surviving in the wild. Let’s just hope she stays away from landscapers from now on.

Pictures of the frog and her surgery are available here.

Filed under: Animals and Pets, Weird,

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