Why boxes of baby frogs are showing up on neighbors’ front porches

If a box of baby frogs has turned up outside your front door, you’re not alone. Many neighbors received the peculiar gift earlier this week and turned to Nextdoor to solve the mystery.

That’s when neighbor Amy Ananian received a text from her mom that read, “Somebody’s leaving boxes of toads on doorsteps.”

“I was like, ‘OMG, mom, that’s me,'” Ananian said. “I got on Nextdoor and said, ‘It’s your crazy neighbor across the street.”

Ananian got the idea Saturday when she was potty training her new puppy outside her home on Clayton Avenue. She saw dozens of frogs smaller than a penny jumping near a lagoon area in her backyard and thought they were too cute to kill.

She remembered all the kids who live on her street and thought they would enjoy learning about the evolution of frogs. She scooped the amphibians in all stages, from tadpoles to frogs, into little boxes and began knocking on doors. If no one was home, she left the boxes on the front porch.

“I love the outdoors, and I like nature,” Ananian said. “Of course I would want to share that. The younger generation isn’t getting to hold or see as much of that. All the kids were like, ‘Mom, look at that.'”

After the post on Nextdoor, the floodgates opened, and more than 60 people requested boxes of frogs to show their kids or release into their backyards or nearby ponds. The creatures eat mosquitos, regulate algae and are good for the environment.

Some neighbors showed their appreciation with tips, plants or other tokens of appreciation.

“We’ve been so stressed, and it was nice everyone was coming together on this,” Ananian said. “I’m getting to meet my neighbors, and it was fun and lighthearted. Every adult was like, ‘This reminds me of being a kid.’ It was good positive reflection time.”

Ananian is out of frogs for now…unless they start multiplying.