PHOTOGRAPHY | POISON | MARY’S DECEMBER 2024 PROMPT
They Call Me Okopipi
December Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Poison”
Dazzling, blue, dangerous, lethal to predators
At the Singapore Zoo we had a wonderful time meeting all sorts of species from across the globe. Of particular interest was the inhabitants of rainforests. It was a whole new world and we were absolutely enchanted.
The vibrant colors of various insects, reptiles, and amphibians took our breaths away. The little blue frogs in the photo — quite tiny — were almost invisible until we saw them leap.
As their name implies, blue poison dart frogs or poison arrow frogs, also known as Dendrobates tinctorius azureus release toxins via their skin that their predators find yucky and lethal. Somehow the quote “beauty is skin deep” popped into my head.
These frogs are active during the day and hide among boulders and foliage near streams on the forest floor. Interestingly, their feet are not webbed so they are bad swimmers — which is probably why they don’t hang out in the water. They lay about 5–6 eggs at a time, unlike the regular frogs. When the eggs hatch, the mom and dad transfer the tadpoles to individual pools of water for them to grow into little…
