Coquí Interlude

Coquí frogs are a native Puerto Rican species, they're everywhere, you can hear them chirping all night, and they're Puerto Rico's national symbol. They are also extremely hard to find, because most of them are so small. When we were at the rainforest center, we learned that there are something like 20 different species of coquís, one of which is a big one that John and the kids had seen around, but didn't know they were coquís.

The other night John was out on the balcony and he saw a big coquí frog down on the lawn, so he went down and took a picture.

Here's what the big ones look like:

And here he is next to John's shoe for size comparison:

Coquís are named for their distinct croak that sounds like, "cooo-KEE, cooo-KEE". Well, at least the little ones do that. And you can't tell where they're coming from. If you've ever heard the coquí frog toys John gave the kids that chirp when you squeeze them, they sound exactly like that.

The other night after it had been raining, we were driving home from John's parents' place and we saw dozens of people in the grass by the side of the road carrying flashlights, nets and some wearing rubber boots. John said they were hunting for coquís, and that they eat them. Ew.