Frog Rescue

Assuming, of course, that one can rescue something that one's own carelessness has necessitated the need for assistance.

After so much recent rain I inspected an old bread crock that once held a plant pot, now half-filled with water, only to find a frog stranded in the green soup, with no way of escape. How long it had been there and what it had found to eat I dread to think but, to my relief, it was still alive.

Using the sieve, whose main function is to remove duckweed from the pond, I carefully lifted the poor beast from its trap (extra 1) and gently lowered it into the pond - which, although slightly soupy, is less so than the crock and has the added advantage of a population of tadpoles and a string of liver to eat.

Extra 2 shows how little muscle there is on its legs; having nowhere to swim except round in small circles they have either wasted or never developed, depending on the age at which it took the fateful decision to jump into the crock.

Extra 3 - on the most recent inspection I see it has rejected the expansive wastes of the pond and climbed out to hide below the glazed dish of water - clearly missing the feel of the crock - but how spare, how thin it is. Can it possibly survive?