By Zelda of Bank Street School For Children, NYC.

The Poison Arrow frog is an amazing frog. When I went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago, I saw them doing some pretty absurd stuff. Below, I wrote about something I saw them doing in the cage. I wrote it from the frog's point of view, before and after he was in the cage. Part one: Innocent

"I'll race ya to that tree," I said to George. He was fat, and I knew I would win. He said "okay," that's what he always says. I beat him to the tree. When I got there, something, a human probably, picked me up. I knew I wasn't a Poison Arrow Frog for nothing. My glands were open and the Poison was there. Humph! Little did that human know. I had been captured twice before, and escaped both times. This was gonna be easy . The human put me in a cage with some other frogs. Then, I was off! Part two: A Chance

Maybe I had fallen asleep. I was in a new cage which they tried to make look like my old neighborhood. I knew I was really far away from home. There were a bunch of leaves in the middle of it, they reached all the way to the top of the cage. Such a long way up, I really had to stretch my neck to see it all. I looked up but another frog interrupted me from my thoughts.

" Hey man! Whacha do'in?" he yelled from across the room.

" Nothing," I said, "mind your business." I was irritated from the long ride and being in a cage for so long, unable to escape.

"Oh yeah!" He said, challenging me. But he left me alone. Then, I saw it, a chance. A chance to get out! I started to climb the plant. I went up higher, and higher, jumping from leaf to leaf. Then I reached the highest leaf. I could make it! I was going to jump up to the top of the cage! 1....2....3! I was up there, dangling! I made it! What was I going to do? I could try to get my feet up there and squeeze through. Uh-oh. My hands were slipping. I had to make a decision, fast! I was going down! Plop! The other frogs moved away, uninterested. I knew that I was not gonna fit in here, they were snobs, they didn't even care about getting out of the cage. I looked at the wall, trying to think of which way I would climb it. Then, I tried to make a plan of what I would do when I got to the top of the cage again.

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This page last updated 7/96