Drought, Flood, Frogs and Locusts

After two years of drought, parts of Western Australia received heavy rains yesterday that did more to wash away topsoil than to replenish water supplies.

But more strange, the rains prompted a strange and reclusive frog to emerge from months or years of hibernation. The giant water holding frog can spend years underground, where its skin forms a protective water barrier, and it lives off reserves, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

After so destructive a drought – the country's wheat crop has been dismal, affecting food prices worldwide – one might take comfort that the frogs weren't falling from the sky.

The ABC did warn, however, that the sudden onset of rain could encourage another apocalyptic scene: Locusts. The rain has created the perfect breeding conditions, apparently.

Australia is known for extremes, where a day of drought, then deluge, strange frogs and the promise of locusts is less apocalyptic than typical. The survival strategy of the giant water holding frog indicates that long periods of drought is nothing new to this part of the world. Just another day down under, perhaps.

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