This is a letter to all of the people who have mentioned one frog attacking the other during feeding. Separate them quickly! My son received these little frogs as a birthday gift in April from a friend. I honestly could not get myself to look at them as they made me too sad in that little tank, so I just made sure he was feeding them on time and keeping tank clean. I watched him feed them twice and did not like what I saw. "Bob" was a pig and would pull on "Joe's" legs to try to get all 4 pellets of food instead of just his 2. This disturbed me, but I had no options as to how to free them. At that point I stopped looking at the frogs altogether. I continued to make sure they were being fed and cleaned but basically turned my back on them and let my son be the sole caregiver. What a mistake. It ends up that Bob has been getting all of the food and Joe has been starving to death. My husband noticed something wrong when he fed them this week for my son. Joe is 1/4 the size of when he came and Bob is double. I almost died when I saw him. It has now been 3 days of my son crying hysterically and me trying to save Joe's life. I have separated the frogs and Joe is hanging on by a thread. I am not sure if he will make it but we are trying everything. On top of everything, it appears as though both of Joe's legs are damaged I am assuming from Bob torturing him to get to the food. I am horrified for so many reasons. In hindsight I am kicking myself for not seeing that this was happening. I left my 8 year old in charge and he did not realize what was going on. I am also sickened by the fact that Hallmark and the toy stores and Value Drugs in our town all sell these. When I called them to explain what was happening they said they had no extra tanks but if frogs died and a tank became available they would call me. Disgusting! This is all hitting the same chord that was hit last year at a Firemen's Fair when I was on a ride with my son and the girl in front of us was swinging around a plastic bag of water that contained a goldfish she had just won. My heart sank then and it is sinking again now for Joe. This cruel behavior towards these little animals needs to be stopped. In the meantime separate your frogs and say a prayer for Joe that he begins eating again. I am blaming myself for what has happened to Joe, but please don't get these little frogs as gifts for kids....obviously from reading so many stories like mine, these little tanks are torture chambers for so many frogs.

Emagineer, it was my DH's mother who was born in this old stone cottage. My family came years before, settled in the Carolinas, intermarried with the Indians, and came into north Alabama. There was no memory of the immigrant experience for anyone alive when I was a child. But for my DH, he is a "first generation" Irish, and the troubles which led his parents to migrate were very real in his upbringing. I know the cottage and the farm on which it sits looks substantial, but it was a struggle surviving under British rule. One of DH's uncles came to America to escape the law because he was involved in the Easter Uprising. Some of the relatives were deported to New Zealand to the criminal colony there, the ones also involved in the Irish movement for independence and justice. He did not know about them, but when he was getting government security clearances, the government already knew and asked him about any connection to them. It makes me wonder what records our FBI and CIA keep about us ordinary citizens. But you are so right. When we were in Ireland, it was a very friendly reception and so lovely. I had a blast driving on those narrow roads on the wrong side of the car and of the road too.

It seems to me that Hollywood only makes three movies these days: The movie about running real fast and engaging in physically impossible acrobatics while things blow up all around. The fart joke movie. The dysfunctional relationships movie, which has two variants: pseudo-inspirational and frankly depressing. Of course, these can be combined, as for instance, in the upcoming remake of Murder on the Orient Express which seems to combine Hercule Poirot, superhero, with the most dreary-looking trainload of miserable people you ever saw. So I just don't go. The suggestion to go to an art house is clearly made by people who live in very major metro areas. I live just north of a major metro area, but still about 90% of the movies I might possibly wish to see do not play within 150 miles of where I live. I see about one movie a year in the theater. Unfortunately, I do keep up with what's current when visiting my brother who has every known streaming service. I'm astounded at how fatiguing it is to try to be entertained.

Reesutton, I also use the rugpads that were recommended by Hallmark under my kitchen rugs. Maybe I should swap out for the waffle-weave rug pads. Also wanted to mention that I noticed that Hallmark now has a new product called NuOil "White Oil " Cleaner. Not sure why they changed formulation for specific floors. I continue to use the the NuOil products but I don't think they help much with staining. When I reorder, I will try this White Oil product and hope it will help with staining. This is from their website: Nu Oil® white oil cleaner is a specially made soap designed with nourishing properties which cleans them out quickly closes the pores if your hardwood floor to protect against dirt and penetration of liquids. All products are natural, VOC neutral leaving no film on top of the wood. Collections that use White Oil Cleaner ALTA VISTA: Malibu Balboa Laguna Cambria Pismo Ojai Carlsbad Big Sur