Quick Take
- The hats are her idea, but the frogs have their own reason for showing up every night.
- Some frogs pose like seasoned models. Others bolt. Why do they have different reactions?
- That poised look in front of the camera isn't what it seems.
- A built-in trick lets these frogs stay put with zero effort, and it has nothing to do with the hat.
In Winston, Georgia, Patty Krongold has turned the edge of her backyard swimming pool into what the Atlanta station 11ALIVE called a frog modeling agency. She’s an interior designer known locally for her elaborate Halloween costumes, and one night she decided her pool frogs needed a little flair. So she started making them hats: fedoras trimmed with feathers, flowers, and all kinds of fancy decorations. When a frog turns up, she picks out a hat, has a little conversation with her model, takes some pictures, gives the frog a kiss, and sends it on its way. She even keeps extra hats ready in case one stops by unexpectedly.
Why There Are Frogs at the Pool in the First Place
The hats are her idea. The frogs are simply in search of dinner. Small tree frogs live across Georgia, including the gray tree frog, and in summer you’ll find them stuck to windows, hunting the bugs that gather around outdoor lights. A backyard pool offers the same deal with a bigger crowd, because standing water draws in mosquitoes and other insects. Once a frog eats well in one spot, it has a reason to come back the next night, and that’s how a backyard turns into a studio with a regular cast of characters.
Why Some of Them Sit There
Krongold told 11ALIVE that some frogs just hop away, while others sit there looking fabulous, like they’ve been modeling their whole lives. What looks like good behavior is really just a frog doing the one thing it knows how to do.
A tree frog survives by staying unnoticed. It spends its days tucked under bark, in rotten logs, or among leaves, and its color shifts to match whatever it’s resting on. Its grip helps too: tree frogs have toe pads with tiny suction cups that hold them to a vertical surface without any effort, so staying perfectly is no problem at all. That’s exactly what it would do if a heron walked by. In front of a phone camera, it just looks like poise.
