honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Manoa's coqui frog captured


Advertiser Staff

It took a lot of trying, but the lone Manoa coqui frog has been captured.

The presence of coqui, known for its piercing, loud shrieks, had dismayed residents of Melemele Place, a quiet dead-end road on the East side of Manoa Valley. Neighbors and state Department of Agriculture inspectors went out many nights trying to catch the frog, which is about the size of a quarter.
The problem was, every time residents went looking for it, their flashlights would scare the frog into silence.
“I would hear it and go out there and it would stop, so I would turn off my flashlight and just wait in the dark,” said Laka Preis Carpenter, who lives on Melemele Place and went on several frog hunting missions.
The recent cold and windy weather also foiled the hunt.
“They are more apt to call when it is warm and humid,” Department of Agriculture spokesperson Janelle Saneishi said.
But last Wednesday, the weather was warm, the flashlights were off, and the frog was captured.
Plant Quarantine inspectors and a member of the Oahu Invasive Species Committee went to the area and got the frog after 20 minutes. The frog was captured by hand.
“They're not poisonous or anything,” Saneishi said.
The frog is alive and being cared for at the Department of Agriculture “for educational purposes,” Saneishi said.
Melemele Place residents are enjoying their quiet lane once again.
“For one frog, it was amazingly loud,” Preis Carpenter said. “Where we live, there's no road noise, so that frog was all we could hear.”