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Associated PressAn Ocala man creates an amphibian version of a birdhouse to keep the animals safe and appease an irritated spouse.
OCALA - Stanley Decell steps out of his screened-in porch, walks across his back yard and surveys his plants, his pool and his hotels.
That's right, hotels. Decell has three of his recent inventions lining the outside of his northeast Ocala home, and tree frogs from around the area are filling up the vacancies.
His invention, the "Tree Frog Hotel," is a small house built of compressed paperboard that looks similar to a birdhouse, but it serves as the daily home for as many as four tree frogs. Though they look almost new, two of the hotels are nearly a year old; however, the idea has been a few years in the making.
"I've been working on them for over a year," Decell said. "I'm still working on them a little bit, trying to make them even better."
Decell came up with the idea when his wife, Penny, became irritated at finding the frogs in the couple's pool and pool equipment.
Decell, who wanted to keep the frogs around, started researching the tree frog and began constructing a home the nocturnal creatures could stay in during the day.
"I watched them, studied their habits, likes and dislikes, and I came up with the hotel."
Decell saw the importance of keeping these frogs around. The tree frog is a nocturnal, arboreal species that feeds on insects but is preyed upon by snakes and birds. More importantly, the tree frog is an indicator species, one whose presence or lack thereof can signal problems within an environment.
Decell, with help from his son, Rocky, built the hotel out of compressed paperboard and sealer, making the building light enough to stay attached to a wall or window with Velcro. He added a green primer that blends into the natural vegetation, a welcome sign above the entry hole, a Tree Frog Hotel graphic and a sliding front door for easy viewing. He mounted the hotels with Velcro to the outside wall, 5 feet above the ground and in the shade to keep out moisture.
The tree frog enters the hotel by jumping up on its roof. It then slides down and eases through a hole in the side of the hotel, using its long legs to balance itself.
Decell's hotel not only helps keep the frogs out of the pool but also helps keep them safe and sheltered.
"My hotel gives them shelter and protects them from their predators," he said. "It also provides the frogs with a safe habitat during the day."
Decell debuted his product to the public at the Master Gardener's Spring Festival in March. He sold 35 of his creations for $10 apiece and got a lot of attention from school teachers and college professors.
Dr. Kenny Krysko, of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, said tree frogs will stay at a place they find and like for days.
"The hotel seems like a pretty good idea," he said. "If they like the device more than their old spot, they will stay there and come back again and again."
The response was so great that Decell started a small Tree Frog Hotel business, opening up an e-mail account, treefroghotels@yahoo.com. He created brochures to help explain how to maximize the hotels' effectiveness.
"Everyone knows what a birdhouse is, and everyone has one," he said. "I want everyone to know what the Tree Frog Hotel is and have one someday."