Frogs

Sarah Waller
11/18/2009

Eighty Oregon spotted frogs were released on Tuesday at Fort Lewis in Pierce County. It's part of an effort to restore endangered frog populations in the Northwest. Some of the frogs were raised by scientists at the Oregon Zoo. But, others were raised by felons at a prison in Olympia.

Cedar Creek Corrections Center isn't your typical prison. It's nestled in a forest near Olympia. Deer walk about the parking lot. If it weren't for the fence topped with razor wire, it could pass for a summer camp. Harry Greer and Al Delp are inmates here. They're standing in the prison yard, peering into a black plastic tank. It's teaming with frogs. Harry reaches in to catch one.

Greer: "Got him! Can you hear him squeaking? There we go. He's really dark brown on top with spots, and then on the bottom, he's really dark red."

Harry's serving time for robbery. He's been raising the frogs since April, when they arrived as tiny eggs. he's getting help from fellow prisoner, Al Delp. Al's here for felony drunk driving.

Delp: "There was one, he was real little, from the time he was a tadpole, he was bent to the left, and he continued like that until his little tail went away. But, we named him Lefty."

Greer: "We had another one that was bent to the right, so we called him Stage Right. "

Al and Harry are part of a program started by Evergreen State College and the Washington State Department of Corrections. It pairs scientists with prisoners to do research. But, it hasn't always been easy to convinc professional researchers to let convicts like harry and al participate in delicate studies. Especially when their prior biological training can be summed up in one word.

Greer: "Zero. I had absolutely none."

But a surprising thing happened. Eighty-five percent of the eggs Harry and Al raised have survived. In fact, the two prisoners have been able to raise larger, healthier frogs than scientists at the Woodland Park Zoo, Northwest Trek and the Oregon Zoo.

Greer: "They say our smallest one is bigger than their biggest one at the other places. See, when they brought them to us, they were the size of a fingernail clipping, and they've grown up to 52 grams."

Nalini: "We just went, This is unbelievable! This is unbelievable!"

That's Dr. Nalini Nadkarni. She's a professor at Evergreen College. She helped found the Sustainable Prisons Project. She remembers hearing the first reports of Harry and Al's success.

Nalini: "And we were so happy and then word got around to the other institutions that were rearing them and there was no jealousy, there was real joy that our guys had done so well."

Size is important when it comes to frogs. One of the biggest threats to Oregon spotted frogs in the wild is being picked off by larger predators. So, the larger the frog upon release, the better it's chance of survival. But, the program has helped more than frogs. It's helping the prisoners, too.

Nalini: "They have found a way to do something that is bigger than themselves. They're not being self centered. Which in many cases is what got them into jail to begin with. But rather they are contributing to something beyond themselves, beyond their families, beyond the prison, into the biosphere level, into this whole area we can talk about saving biodiversity and suddenly, that puts them outside the bars."

Harry is already thinking outside the bars. He has some ideas about what he'd like to do two years from now after his own release from prison.

Greer: "I would like to talk to Northwest Trek, maybe Oregon Zoo or anybody like that. Could I come and volunteer? You know, I don't mind cleaning up a cage or helping out with the frogs or whatever it is they want me to do. And, I don't know, there's possibilities that I could start my own little frog pond. "

For Al, working with frogs has given him hope for the future.

Delp: "We all need a hand one way or another through life, and these guys here needed a hand just to get where they are. And, I think we've done a good job. And hopefully, with society and, you know, the prison system and everything, we can gain everything we can here while we're inside so that when we're released, we're successful out there, too."

About 80 frogs were released at Fort Lewis on Tuesday. Sixty–seven of those were Harry and Al's. I'm Sarah Waller for KUOW News.

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