THE UNION DEMOCRAT (Sonora, California) 15 May 08 Frog caretaker pampers jumpers (Hoyt Elkins)
Larry Thompson has devoted 30 years of his life to the care, feeding, nurturing and comforting of frogs.
He is the keeper of the burlap condominiums in which the amphibians await their day in the sun as stars of the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee. The event begins a five-day run with a 4 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday and concludes with a demolition derby beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Wedged between the pomp and circumstance of the ribbon cutting and the mechanical mayhem of the derby, are four days of competition featuring frogs that Thompson declares are natural athletes.
"All frogs have within them the desire to leap," Thompson intones. "That's what they do."
And, Thompson's job, as the jubilee's chief frog handler, is to make sure the frogs in his care are in peak condition when they appear in public.
"I'm not going to tell you how Larry does it," said Buck King, a former manager of the County Fair and a longtime devotee of the art and science of frog jumping, "but, I bet Larry will tell you all about it."
There's a twinkle in King's eye and a smile on his face when he talks about Thompson's expertise in the care and handling of frogs. King, a longtime Angels Camp resident, and Thompson, who lives in Murphys, have been partners in making the amphibians comfortable for more than a quarter century.
The condominiums in which the frogs are billeted are in the cool, cavernous underside of the Main Stage. To the untrained eye, the condos may look like green, elongated oil drums with burlap lids. The architectural genius of the condo design requires a little explaining.
"We had 55 frogs in here Tuesday, we'll have more than 300 more in here today," King said. "Larry Thompson's job is to make sure they all have a comfortable place to be."
Nestled down inside the metal drums are burlap bags containing a carefully selected number of compatible bullfrogs.
Early stages of an interview with Thompson have to be conducted as he unloads flowers and potted plants donated for the frogs' use by Calaveras Lumber.
"Frogs are wild things," Thompson explains, "they don't seek out the company of humans. What I try to create for them is a little Garden of Eden where they can see plants and feel at home."
He also notes that frogs are social creatures who enjoy one another's company and like singing together.
"Go out to any frog pond and you'll see what I mean," he said. "There'll always be more than one frog around. Just listen."
Inside the area where the frogs are housed there are other amenities including a mist sprayer to keep moisture in the air, and a concrete sink with a green cross and the letters "LCU" painted on it.
"That's our Loving Care Unit," Thompson says, deciphering the LCU acronym. "We get injured frogs here with bad knees, sore ankles, things like that. It happens to all athletes."
Thompson continues, straight faced, reciting the many ways in which the animals are accommodated. He claims he tries to maintain an ambient air temperature of about 72 degrees and wants water from the sprayed water to be about 65 degrees. Both measures are expressed as degrees fahrenheit rather than centigrade.
Also, in order to insure that the environment remains stable, Thompson says he employs a low-tech device fashioned from a long piece of string tied around a white rock.
"I hang the rock from the ceiling over by the condos and check it regularly." he explains "If it's wet, I know its raining in here or there's a leak. If there's snow, I know exactly what's going on. If it's swaying, I know the wind is up, and if it's jiggling and there are ripples in the water pans, I know we're in an earthquake."
Thompson says he plays soothing music for the frogs to keep them calm, and he reads poetry to them at night. This is a full-service sports complex.
The frogs are supplied by Bill Guzules of Santa Clara, who runs a frog farm. Thompson and King like to think of Guzules operation as the amphibian equivalent of a Kentucky horse farm. The champions at Frogtown are thoroughbred bullfrogs.
"Other breeds of frog have competed here," King says. "We had goliath frogs here back in the 70s and didn't have to buy a dimes worth of advertising that year. The frogs were on Johnny Carson. Everyone thought those monsters were going to win it all. They didn't even make the finals."
Thompson contends that frogs do best if they are left in their wild state until just before they jump.
"Those goliath frogs got handled too much, and didn't have a healthy fear of man. The frogs jump farthest when they're trying to get away from their handler," Thompson declared in a confident tone and with the proud demeanor of a man who knows his frogs.
Frog caretaker pampers jumpers