Gray Treefrog

We found this cool frog this morning.  I looked over at my fence and saw thing sandy looking lump.  I couldn't figure out how a clump of sand got on the fence.  So I walked over to investigate.  It wasn't sand.  It was the coolest frog.  I called the kids over.  When Odin picked it up he squealed, "It's so STICKY!"
Eli noticed the underside of the frog was yellow.  We brought out our Audubon book and looked it up.  Gray Treefrog.  We noticed the large suction pads on the toes, which is what made the little guy so sticky.  The frog climbed up shirts, jumped really far and kindly endured my children's handling.  When they started to get too excited (or rather, started fighting over the poor frog), we let him go back into the woods. 
I find it a difficult task to teach my children compassion when it comes to those creatures that live outdoors.  I have family and friends who stomp on ants and other bugs.  I have folks telling me that "boys will be boys" and killing things is just a part of that.  I have to admit, I killed my share of living things in my very younger years - I was tomboy hanging with the boys.  We're all relatively well-adjusted grown ups.  I still would like my kids to have a bit more compassion and understanding than I did.