The Loveland Frog Man

Put on your hiking boots and long sleeved shirt and pants; we're heading into the wetlands of Loveland, Ohio. Today we're on the search for the Loveland Frogman and we'll discuss the anatomical similarities it shares with regular frogs. How far do you think this cryptid can jump? Welcome to Supernatural Park!

Sources:
Dalea, Natalie. “The Strange Case of the Loveland Frog, Ohio's Amphibian Cryptid.” Theportalist.com, 29 July 2020, https://theportalist.com/the-loveland-frog. \

Posted by blogger in Charleston Terrors, and Tim Bertelink. “The Loveland Frogman – Ohio's Most Famous Cryptid.” The Loveland Frogman – Ohio's Most Famous Cryptid - Charleston Terrors, 19 Apr. 2021, https://charlestonterrors.com/the-loveland-frogman-ohios-most-famous-cryptid/. 

“The Loveland Frogman.” Sinisterhood , created by Christie Wallace , and Heather McKinney, episode 133, https://www.sinisterhood.com/shownotes/episode-133-the-loveland-frogman. 

The Loveland Frog.” Skeptoid, https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4473. 

Staff, WLWT Digital. “The Legend of the Loveland Frogman.” WLWT, WLWT, 5 Oct. 2021, https://www.wlwt.com/article/the-loveland-frogman/37871711#.

Transcript

Today’s episode is brought to you by the Great Lakes Aquarium. Based in Duluth, Minnesota, the Aquarium is dedicated to leading freshwater conservation by connecting all people to Lake Superior and the world’s waters. Their mission is to engage and inspire, encouraging stewardship of wildlife and water.

And 

Great Lakes Great Responsibility. "Great Lakes Great Responsibility is a network of volunteers keeping the Great Lakes basin clean through litter removals. Join their current effort to pick up 1 million pieces of trash by visiting greatlakeslove.org"

When the Park invites you to visit, heed its call. Follow the trail of crushed sea glass it offers at your feet, without hesitation. The invitation won’t last long. Welcome to Supernatural Park. 

Hello visitor! If this is your first visit  to the park then welcome and if you’ve been here before, welcome back! It's Park Ranger Amy here to guide you once more. And it seems you're right on time; excellent! The Park has a busy schedule you see, and it doesn’t abide by tardiness. I’m never late to work myself for I live here. The Park is as much a part of me as I am of it. And isn’t that true for all nature and the way it connects to us?

Today the Park has brought us the lovely and humid wetlands of Loveland,Ohio. That’s right, we’re on the lookout for the Loveland Frogmen. If you’re not wearing a long sleeved shirt and pants along with sturdy hiking boots, The Park has some for you to borrow. It’s important to wear protective clothing when hiking and just because the Park can switch out different ecosystems, doesn’t mean it’ll leave even a little, tiny mosquito behind. They are an important part of the food chain after all for fish, bats, dragonflies; why even the Frogman itself needs them to survive.

As we traverse the heavily forested and rugged mountains of Washington State to get to wetlands of Ohio, be careful not to make too much noise or we may attract Bigfoot. I’m sure you’re excited to see him but we don’t want him to get curious and follow us down into the swamp. You don’t want to smell him when he’s covered in swamp water and I’m not too keen about pulling him out of the muck again. Are you ready? Great.

Here now, we’re starting to get into the wetland so watch your step and keep your senses alert. We’ll smell the Loveland Frogmen before we see them as it’s been reported that the peculiar mixed smell of alfalfa and almonds follows wherever they go.. 

A quick fact about wetlands while we are hiking through one visitor. Swamps and marshes are both wetlands; that is land forms saturated with water. The difference is that swamps are more dominated by trees and other woody plants while marshes have mostly vegetation and other herbaceous plants. You’ll also find them on the edges of lakes and streams while the swamp is more often found along large rivers and lake shores. 

This looks like a good place to wait and watch. That was a long hike wasn’t it? Why don’t we catch our breath and take a lunch break? The Park is ready for a meal of good story-telling.

Today’s poetry comes from me, Park Ranger  Amy . 

The first poem is called a motivation speech

You are endless

A vast expanse of power in an ever changing world

You are dangerous

When the winds of life rile you up

You don’t hold back.

You are free

Noone can contain you for very long

You find ways of destroying your cage when pressure is applied

You are forever

The molecules that make up your existence cannot be destroyed

Just transformed into a more powerful, different, but still the same beautiful you. 

The second poem is called “Support”

There is an endless support system for you out there

Little trickles like positive thoughts

Small streams like kind words

Mighty rivers like thoughtful actions 

Feed into your body.

And they even have support systems of their own.

So whenever you’re going through a drought

And feel like your levels are low

Just remember that somewhere

Reinforcement is coming your way.

These two poems  come from the inspiration I get  from watching Lake Superior. Much of my poetry involves talking to the lake but I also want it to make a connection with a person’s individual circumstances as well. Mental health is a struggle, for me and many others. I hope my words can bring you peace and positivity during the times when it’s most dark for you. 

Here visitor, why don’t you borrow a pair of binoculars to help you search this vast open marsh. The loveland frogmen is said to be able to have magical abilities and can cast spells with a wand it carries around so it’s best to not get too close to it. Back in 1955, onec May night, a traveling businessman was driving over a bridge on the Little Miami River in Loveland, Ohio, when he encountered three humanoid, frog -like, bipedal creatures on the side of the road. 

They didn’t seem to notice him as he watched them communicate amongst themselves, which allowed him to observe them. He later described them as close to three and a half feet tall, having leathery skin and webbed hands and feet. Their huge eyes bulged out of their head where they had deep grooves instead of hair. Their mouths were wide; not unlike a regular frog’s mouth. 

I’m not sure if the salesman had done anything to attract their attention, but suddenly one had noticed him observing them. It pulled out a wand and waved it, sending sparks flying into the air. Terrified at what may happen to him, the man sped away. This was the first documented sighting of the Loveland Frogmen. 

Shhhh visitor. I see something approaching through the binoculars. Yes; exactly as what I described, here comes one right  now. It looks very much like an anthropomorphic frog doesn’t it? Let’s sit quietly and watch what it does.

Hm. It appears to be hobbling in a certain direction-I don’t think it’s injured. With legs like a frog I expect one to have a hobbling gait to it. I can see a small trail of reeds and cattails that have been pushed over. I wonder if more came through earlier? Perhaps it’s following their trail. 

Do you notice its eyes? Normal frogs-the ones you and I are the most familiar with, have a layer of tissue over their eyes called the tapetum lucidum (ta-peet-tum luce-eh-dum), which allows them to see at night. Many animals-like cats for example- have this feature. This is what causes their eyes to shine in the dark when you cast a light on them.. Those who have reported sightings of the loveland frogmen have reported illuminated eyes when a light is shined on them so I imagine part of their anatomy is not dissimilar to a regular frog’s. 

Look at its legs; they function like a humans but still have the powerful muscles like a normal frog’s. It’s important to note that not all frogs can jump; frogs that have shorter legs can only walk, crawl, or hop shorter distances. But this creature is about 4 feet tall. And much of that height belongs to its legs! The smallest species of frog, the cricket frog, has a body of length of just 1 inch but can still jump 3 feet. And the American bullfrog holds the record for jumping up to 10 feet! Can you imagine how far the loveland frogman, a four foot tall creature, could jump? Actually let’s not think about that too much. It’s a bit scary...

Well visitor it appears to have left, continuing its pursuit of the others. Wasn’t that something? Let’s hike back to the park’s entrance and I’ll tell you of two other sightings that were reported.

A singular frogman was seen on March 3rd, 1972 around 1 a.m. in the morning. Loveland police officer, Ray Shockey, was driving along the Little Miami River, the same river as the traveling salesman in 1955, when a 3-4 foot tall creature dashed in front of his car, its eyes illuminated by his headlights. Before the creature hopped over the guard rail and escaped into the river, it stood up and stared at him and he was able to see its frog-like features and leathery skin

Two weeks later on March 17th,  another Loveland Police officer, Mark Matthews,  was driving in the same area when he saw something crouching in the middle of Kemper road. Thinking it was roadkill, he stopped his car and got out to move it out of the way. But as soon as officer Matthews got out of his car door, the animal he was looking at got up into a crouched position then hobbled over to the guard rail, keeping its eyes on Matthews while it lifted its leg and prepared to jump into the river. 

Now, this is where the story branches off into two different directions. Some sources claimed that Matthews took his gun out and fired but missed; scaring the creature into the water. Another source claims that he hit it and collected the body then put it in his trunk to show to Officer Shockey. When Officer Shockey saw it, he identified it as a pet iguana that perhaps had been abandoned by it’s  owner when it got too big to care for, , but it  was difficult to tell because it was missing it’s tail. 

Years later, Shockey and Matthews would claim it was all a hoax. But believe what you’d like to visitor; for myself I know the Frogman is real and not just some misidentified lizard. Why, we saw it with our own eyes today , something that few people rarely get to experience.

Well it looks like we’re back at the entrance already, and I see the trail of seaglass has appeared to take you back home.We always seem to have such a short amount of time here; but there are many more stories about the loveland frogman that I encourage you to do some more research yourself. It’s always great to learn new things. Thank you so much for coming, visitor. I hope I see you again soon. For now, have a safe trip home, and please-do not feed the wildlife.

Sources cited from today’s episode can be found in the show description.

If you have a short story, poem, or song you would like to feature on a future episode’s Lunch Break, please send the written version or a sound recording to thesupernaturalpark@gmail.com

If you liked this episode and want to hear more as well as gain access to behind the scenes content and in the works poetry, visit my patreon account at patreon.com/supernaturalpark. You can also find the facebook page for it by searching Supernatural Park. 

The music intro used in the show is titled “Magic Forest” by Kevin Macleod. To hear the full version of the song or hear to hear more of his music, please visit incomptech.com