Science East searches for missing frog
Science East staff members are widening the search for Buddha the tree frog.
An appeal for information has yielded few clues as to where the White's tree frog has gone.
The species is indigenous to Australia and Papua New Guinea.
She's been missing from her exhibit at Science East since last Thursday.
"We have a no-questions-asked policy on her return," said Heather Grant, an educator at the science centre.
"It's unlikely she got out on her own and you'd have to be pretty tall to take her out."
Buddha, with her distinctive long fingers and toes, has always been a centre of attention at the museum.
"She's incredibly cute. We call her the smiling frog.''
Buddha was donated to the museum about two years ago.
She likes to burrow, so staff members weren't alarmed when they didn't see her in her exhibit as they prepared to open Friday morning.
But after a thorough sweep of her home, Grant said, they realized she was gone.
The disappearance of the frog - which is light to dark green and can fit in the palm of a hand - caused quite a stir.
"We had upset staff and we had some very upset kids," Grant said.
Day-camp participants between the ages of eight and 12 were shocked by the disappearance.
Staffers set up a box hoping for an anonymous tip, but all they learned is that the frog was last seen around 4:10 p.m. Thursday.
Staff members have combed through the room and searched the entire building to no avail.
While Buddha may do all right in the muggy dog days of summer, they say she needs specific attention to her care and diet to survive.
The temperature, humidity and moisture in her exhibit are controlled.
"If you don't know how to take care of her there will be horrible consequences,'' she said.
While she subsists on a diet of crickets, Buddha's eating is strictly controlled.
"In the wild, they'll eat and eat and eat. They'll eat themselves into obesity,'' said Grant.
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