An interloper in a back yard wildlife habitat

The back yard pond at the home of
Debra Oliver and Randy Clere
provides water for wildlife

National Wildlife Federation certified the property of Debra Oliver and Randy Clere in Shoreline's Richmond Highlands neighborhood as an official certified wildlife habitat site. The property attracts a variety of birds and other local critters by providing a wildlife-friendly landscape.

Little Miss Spot was far from home

However, one critter had a bit of help getting to, and away from, their back yard.

Last spring Deb noticed a little frog in the pond. The visitor turned out to be a Columbian Spotted Frog, a threatened species native to eastern Washington state.

A rescue operation headed by Thayer 'Frog Lady' Cueter of Just Frogs and Friends Amphibian Center in Edmonds transferred Little Miss Spot to a lake in Eastern Washington where she could find other Columbia Spotted Frogs and food better suited to her than that in Deb and Randy's pond.

A few questions revealed that a child living in the neighborhood had released Miss Spot as a tadpole into their pond the year before. She said she caught it during a vacation to the Columbia River and brought it home.

Their back yard now boasts all native species and Little Miss Spot is back home where she belongs.