March 12 - Just Let Me Save You

How is it that whenever you’re trying to save an animal it does exactly the opposite of what you want it to do?

Today a little frog got hopelessly stuck inside our screened in porch. I got down on my hands and knees and tried swatting my hands on the left side of it, attempting to coax him towards the open door. At first he did my exact bidding, but as soon as he hit the door’s metal frame he seemed absolutely unable to continue, instead jumping straight at the screen and sadly, slowly, sliding back down to the tiled floor.

We watched this happen three times - the frog making his way back to the left, and me patiently guiding him towards the door on the right, until I finally couldn’t stand it. I grabbed him by the middle and, very gracefully (not) threw him outside.

Looking back, almost every time I’ve tried to save a creature, they’ve been too terrified of both me and the situation they’ve found themselves in to even for a second consider to just go with the flow - follow the guiding hand that’s steering them straight to the open door.

It makes you wonder how often you might find the right path if you just stop trying so hard and let the current take you.