Genius Invention Saves Small Animals From Drowning In Your Pool

Because no one wants to fish dead animals out of their swimming pool

Owning a swimming pool is a ton of work. When you’re not on constant summer lifeguard duty for your kids and all their friends, you’re probably skimming nasty stuff out of the water, adjusting chemical levels and rescuing the Shopkins your preschooler thought might want to take a swim from being stuck in the filter. The last thing you need to deal with is waking up to a small animal that drowned in your backyard oasis during the night.

Luckily, there’s a way to prevent it.

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I can still remember the panicked screams of my friend the morning after a 7th grade sleepover when she stepped outside to survey her family’s swimming pool and discovered a dead frog chilling in the shallow end. When tiny animals find their way into a pool, it can be next to impossible to find their way back out, resulting in dramatic situations like my friend’s house one July morning in 1994.

FrogLog can put an end to this childhood trauma (and gross adulthood pain-in-the-ass) by giving fallen animals a cute little lifeline.

The popular product is sold on Amazon for around $36 and gives wayward creatures who took an inadvertent dip a handy way out.

It’s an inflatable platform with a mesh skirting and ramp attached that floats in the water courtesy of a weighted pouch that keeps it in place. You attach it to the edge of the pool and, voila. Hopefully, no more creatures shedding their mortal coil underneath your son’s Minion float.

The Amazon reviews are pretty universally stellar with tons of FrogLog fans reporting an animal death-free summer pool experience and also, less bugs, because apparently, they can get trapped in the water with no way out too.

And it’s not just frogs and bugs that tend to meet their end in a backyard swimming pool. Animals like moles, chipmunks, lizards and some birds can also find themselves in watery peril without a little ramp to give them a boost out. Who wants to see an adorable little chipmunk dead in the water? Absolutely no one, that’s who.

According to Good Housekeeping, wildlife biologist Rich Mason got the idea for the product after a friend told him about all the frogs dying in his new pool. Mason, who believe in every animal’s right to survive, took action, and FrogLog was born.

As a parent, I believe not only in animal rights, but in having less aggravation in my life and not subjecting my kids to dead chipmunks whenever possible. This quirky product could be the answer to a problem that may not be a huge deal, but certainly isn’t fun either.