Wildlife is abundant in Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, and it penetrates everything, including the house where we live. Scorpions take up residence in the dark corners of our house, army ants regularly pass through and once the rains start, frogs of all types can be found (or more often heard) around the perimeter. However, during the dry season, some resident frogs are desperate for water, and four such frogs have found my bathroom. They are milk frogs (of the genus Phrynohyas), so named for the sticky mucous that they secrete which is difficult to wash off of one´s skin.
I imagine that the bathroom to them is what the Ritz Carlton is to us. In their posh residence they enjoy the luxury of water year round. I often find them wallowing in a film of water on my shower floor. One particularly lazy individual just uses his suction-cup feet to stick to the shower tiles, often in the perfect position to be rained upon by fresh shower sprinkles. As he hears me turning the shower on, he often opens his eyes no more than a crack, and may reposition himself a bit so that he´ll be in the most advantageous position. More surprisingly, they treat the toilet like their own personal swimming pool, and sometimes they have parties where up to three will be lounging inside. Piña colada, anybody? But most amusing is when, in the middle of the night, a male wiggles his way down the shower drain and into the pipes and choruses. The acoustics are perfect, as he sounds as if he were 10 times the size! Ladies, beware – this is a man´s man of the milk frog world.
