Knossos stays close to freshwater. Bronze Frogs use pond edges, slow streams, marshy places, ditches with clean water, wetland borders, and other damp areas where plants grow along the shore. He does not live up in the pecan trees with Biv and Kevin, and he does not make his home in the dry flower beds with Gee and Fenn.

His part of the neighborhood is low, wet, and full of places to hide.

The pond edge beyond Grandma’s back fence has grass, soft mud, water plants, fallen leaves, and shallow spots where Knossos can sit with only his eyes above the surface. When something bigger comes too close, he can jump into the water and disappear under plants or mud.

Tootie watches the water carefully. “Where did he go?”

Grandma points near a clump of wet grass. “He is still there.”

Tootie squints. “I do not see him.”

“That is because Knossos knows how to stay still,” Grandma says. “He does not need to be invisible. He just needs to look enough like the place where he is sitting.”

Yoshi studies the edge of the pond. “He looks like wet leaves.”

Grandma nods. “That is good camouflage for a frog.”

Knossos uses the water for safety, food, and raising young. He may sit along the bank when the weather is warm, but he stays close enough to jump or swim away when he needs to. A Bronze Frog is not built for the dry middle of the yard all day long. He needs damp ground nearby so his skin does not dry out.

Knossos began as an egg in the water.

A female Bronze Frog lays eggs in shallow freshwater, usually among underwater plants or in quiet places near the edge. The eggs are soft and jelly-like, not hard-shelled like bird eggs. They stay in the water while tiny frogs begin growing inside them.

After the eggs hatch, Knossos was a tadpole.

At first, he had a long tail, no legs, and a body made for swimming. He stayed underwater and ate algae, soft bits of plant material, and tiny things drifting through the pond. He did not look like a frog yet, and he could not hop onto the bank or call from the grass.

Tootie looks surprised. “So he was not Knossos yet?”

Grandma smiles. “He was still Knossos. He was just Knossos with a tail.”

Yoshi watches the water. “Did he have lungs?”

“Not at first,” Grandma says. “Tadpoles use gills while they live underwater. Later, as they grow, their bodies change.”

Knossos grew back legs first. Then his front legs appeared. His tail got smaller and smaller as his body changed. He began using lungs to breathe air, though frogs can also take in some oxygen through their damp skin.

Eventually, Knossos became a young frog. He could leave the water for short trips, sit along the shore, and start catching small animals instead of eating algae. Some young Bronze Frogs finish changing into frogs in the same year they hatch. Others take longer, depending on the water and the season.

Tootie thinks that sounds like a lot of changing.

Grandma says, “They are. Frogs grow up in stages.”

Yoshi looks at Knossos. “First tail. Then legs. Then jumping.”

Grandma nods. “That is the idea.”

As Knossos got bigger, he learned where the water stayed deep enough to hide in, which plants held insects, and when to stop moving. He also learned that a fast jump can help, but staying still first is often smarter.

Knossos eats small animals that he can catch.

Adult Bronze Frogs eat insects, spiders, worms, slugs, crayfish, and other small creatures that move near the water. A large frog may also eat tiny fish, tadpoles, or smaller frogs when the chance comes along. Knossos is not picky in the way Roy is picky about a good sunflower seed or Scott is picky about pecans.

He is an opportunist.

That means he waits, watches, and eats what he can catch.

One evening, a moth lands near the pond edge. Knossos stays still. The moth crawls closer, then pauses near a wet leaf.

Tootie whispers, “He does not see them.”

Grandma says, “He sees they.”

The moth moves one more time.

Knossos snaps forward.

Then the moth is gone.

Tootie blinks. “Where did they go?”

Grandma says, “Into Knossos.”

Yoshi watches the frog settle back into place. “He does not chew much.”

“Frogs usually swallow prey whole,” Grandma says. “They do not have teeth for chewing the way people do.”

Knossos needs all those insects and little water animals because they help him grow, move, and stay strong. The pond edge gives him food without making him travel far from safety.

Grandma says, “Knossos lives beside a very busy grocery store.”

Tootie looks at the water. “I would not shop there.”

“That is fine,” Grandma says. “The slugs would appreciate they.”

Knossos is called a Bronze Frog because of his warm brown and bronze coloring. His body may look brown, coppery, olive, or greenish in different light. He has folds of skin along his back that help people tell him apart from some other frogs.

His colors help him blend into muddy water, wet leaves, shore plants, and old wood near the pond. When he sits still at the water’s edge, he can be hard to spot.

Tootie sees Knossos beside a dark leaf one afternoon and looks right past him.

“Where did he go?” Tootie asks.

Yoshi’s ears twitch. “He is there.”

Tootie looks again.

Then Knossos moves one foot.

Tootie jumps back. “He was right there!”

Grandma laughs. “That is how camouflage works. They helps an animal avoid being noticed.”

Knossos does not need to look exactly like a leaf. He only needs enough brown, green, bronze, and shadowy color to make a hungry bird or curious dog look somewhere else.

Yoshi watches him settle back down. “He does not move much.”

Grandma says, “He saves the big moves for when they matter.”

Tootie looks thoughtful. “That seems like something I should learn.”

Grandma says, “They surely does.”

Knossos’s call sounds like a single pluck on a loose banjo string.

Male Bronze Frogs call during the warmer parts of the year, especially near water where they may claim a small space and try to attract females. A frog does not need a big stage to make a loud sound. Knossos can sit near the pond edge, fill his throat with air, and send his call across the water.

Plunk.

Tootie hears they again one evening and turns toward the pond.

“Is he talking to Chirp?”

Grandma shakes her head. “Knossos is calling other Bronze Frogs.”

Chirp answers from the wet grass with his quick rattling call.

Then Knossos calls again.

Plunk.

Tootie looks confused. “They sound nothing alike.”

“That is helpful,” Grandma says. “Frogs need to recognize their own kind.”

Yoshi listens for a moment. “Chirp sounds like a tiny cricket. Knossos sounds like somebody dropped a banjo.”

Grandma smiles. “That is a very fair description.”

Knossos may also use calls to tell other male frogs that a spot near the water is already taken. He does not build a fence or put up a sign. He calls, sits where he wants to sit, and makes his opinion known.

Biv hears the call from the pecan tree.

“Everybody has a territory,” Biv says.

Kevin lands nearby. “Some animals simply have better paperwork.”

Grandma says, “Nobody in this yard has paperwork.”

Kevin looks offended.

Chirp is much smaller than Knossos.

Chirp is a Cricket Frog, and he spends time near shallow wet places, grass, and muddy edges. Knossos is a Bronze Frog, which means he is bigger, smoother-skinned, and more closely tied to the pond edge and larger water.

Tootie watches both frogs one evening after rain.

Chirp sits near a wet grass stem, tiny enough that he could almost disappear under one leaf. Knossos sits closer to the pond, broad-backed and still, with his eyes above the water.

“They are both frogs,” Tootie says. “But Chirp is little and Knossos is big.”

Grandma nods. “That is one difference.”

Yoshi watches Chirp hop away. “Chirp moves more.”

“He has to,” Grandma says. “He is smaller. Knossos can sit still longer because he looks more like the pond edge.”

Tootie listens to the two calls.

“Chirp sounds like a cricket,” he says. “Knossos sounds like a banjo.”

Grandma laughs. “Now you are starting to know your frogs.”

Knossos does not mind Chirp being nearby, as long as Chirp stays out of his favorite water-edge spot. Chirp does not mind Knossos being bigger, as long as Knossos stays far enough away to let Chirp keep catching tiny bugs.

That is how much of the backyard works. Everybody needs room, food, and a place to get away when they are done with company.

Knossos mostly sees the backyard crew from the pond edge.

He sees Grandma checking on the garden in the evening. He sees Tootie stop at the fence, curious about every sound. He sees Yoshi watch quietly from the porch before deciding whether something matters.

He may hear Robbie rustling under the pecan trees after dark. He may see Bessie glide overhead. He may hear Roy whistle in the morning and Biv complain all afternoon.

Knossos does not join the pecan-tree arguments.

He has better things to do.

One evening, Kevin lands near the pond edge and looks down at Knossos.

“Is that your whole plan?” Kevin asks. “Sit there?”

Knossos does not move.

Kevin waits.

Knossos still does not move.

Then a beetle crawls past.

Knossos catches they.

Kevin watches for a moment. “Fine,” he says. “They are a plan.”

Tootie laughs from the porch.

Grandma says, “Knossos has figured out something Kevin has not. You do not have to announce every good idea before they works.”

Kevin looks toward her.

Then he pretends he did not hear.

Grandma likes hearing Knossos call after rain. She likes knowing the pond edge has frogs, insects, plants, and other animals using they. She does not try to catch Knossos, carry him around, or let Tootie and Yoshi crowd him.

Frogs have delicate skin. Oils, lotion, soap, sunscreen, and other things on people’s hands can hurt them. Frogs also need their skin to stay damp, so being held too long can be stressful for them.

Tootie watches Knossos sitting near the water. “Can I pick him up?”

Grandma says, “No.”

Yoshi adds, “Tootie.”

“I only asked.”

Grandma points toward the pond edge. “Knossos does not need a puppy hand reaching down from the sky. He needs water, cover, bugs, and enough quiet to hear what is coming.”

Tootie sits beside the fence instead.

Knossos stays still for a moment, then slips into the water with one smooth kick.

Tootie sighs. “He is gone.”

Grandma says, “No. He is underwater.”

Yoshi watches the ripples fade. “That is close enough to gone.”

Knossos needs clean water, pond-edge plants, damp ground, and safe places to hide. Frogs do best when ponds and wet places have leaves, grasses, shallow edges, and plants instead of being scraped bare.

Keep soap, lawn chemicals, fertilizer, oil, and trash out of water. Frogs absorb things through their skin, so dirty water can hurt them. Avoid spraying chemicals near ponds, ditches, or low wet places where frogs may live and hunt.

Keep dogs from chasing frogs near the water. Tootie and Yoshi can watch from a distance, but they should not paw, mouth, or corner a frog. A frog that feels trapped may hurt themselves trying to escape.

Grandma says, “Knossos has enough trouble avoiding herons, snakes, and hungry raccoons. He does not need help from a puppy.”

Tootie looks offended.

Yoshi says, “He means you.”

Tootie knows.