The "Legend of the Coqui" Story

The really neat Coqui Frog.

It was an ordinary day.  Leaving our resort to find a place to eat our evening meal and are being bombarded with the sound of the Coqui Frog.  It is a species of the Eleutherodactylus genus, meaning "free toes" in Greek.  The small frog, which I have never seen on any of the islands I have visited in the Caribbean, are commonly known as the Coqui which is descriptive of the unique sound made by only two species of frogs.  Some call them the tree frog, since they inhabit the trees and when you pass a tree at night you are treated to the chirping sound they make.  Pass through a wooded area that is inhabited with hundreds of these frogs and it is deafening, even without my hearing aides turned on!  There are 16 species of Coqui frogs native to Puerto Rico including one that was just discovered in 2005.  Since I have never seen one I only know what they look like from photographs I have seen.  They are extremely small and their colors include brown, green and yellow and have small pads at the tips of their toes.  They are different from other frogs in that they lay eggs and after a period of between 17 to 26 days they emerge fully developed.

The silver and gold pendants showing the Coqui Frog.

 The exception to that rule is the Golden Coqui, which is now presumed extinct, which gives birth to live frogs.  The eggs are hatched inside of the mother and the live young are dispersed through the mother's genital opening.  While in the town of Old San Juan, Carol and I visited a jewelry store so she could purchase a small pendant with the shape of the Coqui frog.  Extremely small, made of sterling silver, and looks great around her neck.  Neat souvenir from our visit to the island of Puerto Rico.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.