Hot Damn! It's the Loveland Frog!
May 23, 2017 8:17 AM   Subscribe

In 2016, amidst the Pokemon Go frenzy, a young couple wandered into the woods near Ohio's Little Miami River and glimpsed a four foot tall humanoid frog, known locally as the Loveland Frog. Several artists have tried to capture what the Loveland Frog must look like, with wildly varying results. The Wikipedia gives perhaps the most sobering idea of what a bipedal frog the height of a small child might look like lumbering over a highway guardrail.

For those unfamiliar with the basic outlines of the Loveland Frog mythos, it started in 1955, when a traveling salesman driving through southern Ohio saw three humanoid frogs gathered together under a bridge. When he disturbed them, one used a wand to spray sparks at the salesman and he fled. Twenty years later, two different policemen in the area claimed to see what had become known as the Loveland Frog late at night while driving. The first, Ray Shockey, caught the creature in his headlights and exchanged a lengthy stare with it before it crawled over the guardrail and back into the woods. The second, Mark Matthews, was startled by it and fired his gun at it until it retreated. He later claimed it had just been a large iguana and had not been aggressive, leaving open the question of why he tried to kill it.
posted by Copronymus (35 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
So...is this a Lovecraft thing, or a "Twin Peaks" thing?
posted by Ipsifendus at 8:25 AM on May 23, 2017


Murlocs are real?
posted by xyzzy at 8:27 AM on May 23, 2017 [2 favorites]


A reprise of the Beast of the Busco.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 8:32 AM on May 23, 2017


I live near Loveland, and have always secretly wished to see the Frogman for myself. Mostly so I could ask him "Oh shit waddup?"
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:32 AM on May 23, 2017 [14 favorites]


Cryptozoology both fascinates and terrifies me. First of all, outside of the ocean I don't for a second believe that there are large species that have not yet been discovered. I mean, maybe somewhere in a rainforest there is a monkey with a butt that is a slightly brighter shade of pink that hasn't yet been classified as a different species of monkey because nobody has yet seen his backside, but no, there are not large ape-like creatures wandering the woods of Oregon, or giant monsters swimming in a loch in Scotland.

I would very much love it if there were. I mean, how cool would that be?

But, no, if there were those things we'd have definitive proof by now. Especially in a world where everyone carries a camera with them wherever they go. (obligatory XKCD)

Yet people insist they exist.

There's a local story of a cryptid near where I live., the Dover Demon. The story fascinates me because the first sighting occurred when I was of an age where I just assumed if someone saw an alien, it was because there was an alien. As I've grown older I've accepted that there is some more plausible explanation for it, yet I'm still fascinated by the fact that people want to believe.

Most internet comments about it go something like this. "Well, since there were no UFO sightings in the area it's obviously an escaped government experiment."

I mean, that's it. The logic jumps right to "alien or government experiment" and skips, you know, raccoon with a plastic bag stuck to his head or eighteen million other things that a logical person could guess before "aliens."

And that's what both fascinates and terrifies me. Fascinated because people believe these things are out there, and also terrified because people believe these things are out there.
posted by bondcliff at 8:52 AM on May 23, 2017 [8 favorites]


Sam Jacobs said he was playing “Pokemon Go” with his girlfriend Wednesday night behind Congregation Beth Adam synagogue on Loveland Madeira Road.

1. Kids these days!
2. If this were true, the proof would be a photo "Wild Snorlax Captured" with the Loveland Frog behind it
posted by chavenet at 8:59 AM on May 23, 2017 [8 favorites]


outside of the ocean I don't for a second believe that there are large species that have not yet been discovered

It does happen, although not that often.
posted by thelonius at 9:13 AM on May 23, 2017 [3 favorites]


Is him name Hopkin Green Frog?
posted by JohnFromGR at 9:31 AM on May 23, 2017 [11 favorites]


Yeah, kids were out with their smartphones, spotted something very noteworthy, and didn't take any photos? Yeeeaaaahh....
posted by Dysk at 9:32 AM on May 23, 2017 [4 favorites]


I know other states have cryptids, but is it just me, or does Ohio have an awful lot of them? Maybe I just hear about them more because I live here, but it seems like every town has its own legendary animal. It's kind of irritating, to be honest.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:35 AM on May 23, 2017 [2 favorites]


What's more amazing, that there may be a bigfoot or that Bigfoot Hunters has been on TV for 6 years without one shred of evidence?
posted by Splunge at 9:35 AM on May 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'd be it's one of the chrono trigger crew faffing about with the Epoch, and accidentally leaving Glenn in this time period.
posted by TrinsicWS at 9:37 AM on May 23, 2017 [5 favorites]


Yeah, kids were out with their smartphones, spotted something very noteworthy, and didn't take any photos? Yeeeaaaahh....

They actually took a video, although I wouldn't exactly call it conclusive about anything.
posted by Copronymus at 9:38 AM on May 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


What's more amazing, that there may be a bigfoot or that Bigfoot Hunters has been on TV for 6 years without one shred of evidence?

I haven't ever heard a Bigfoot believer respond to the question of "where are the bones?" in a way that didn't remind me of arguing with Flat Earthers.
posted by thelonius at 9:39 AM on May 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


oh come on, the answer is obvious
posted by capricorn at 9:44 AM on May 23, 2017


They actually took a video, although I wouldn't exactly call it conclusive about anything.

Loveland Frog? Absurd. That's clearly Mothman with white contact lenses.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:45 AM on May 23, 2017


Loveland Frog? Absurd. That's clearly Mothman with white contact lenses.

If you look very, very closely, at the eyes, I believe you can see some indication that it may, in fact, be the bloodsucking Vegetable Man, having wandered a bit from his traditional stomping grounds farther east.
posted by Copronymus at 9:56 AM on May 23, 2017 [2 favorites]


First of all, outside of the ocean

See! This is why I don't go into the water. Who knows what the heck is in there! I vote not poking it with sticks though. Last thing that crawled up on land was us, and look at how well that turned out.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 9:59 AM on May 23, 2017


Loveland frogs are neat and all, but they're no Fresno Nightcrawlers.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:21 AM on May 23, 2017 [5 favorites]


I used to see that thing all the time in the early 90s. Here's an action shot of me fighting one.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 10:24 AM on May 23, 2017 [4 favorites]


It's fun to make up names for location-specific cryptids.

The Multnomah Wanderer

Anchorage Swoopers

Talladega Bee-People
posted by gottabefunky at 10:30 AM on May 23, 2017 [7 favorites]


HELLO MY BABY
HELLO MY HONEY
HELLO MY RAGTIME GAAAAAAAAAAAAAL
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:31 AM on May 23, 2017 [28 favorites]


Is him name Hopkin Green Frog?

Him name Bubbles.
posted by e1c at 10:34 AM on May 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


When he disturbed them, one used a wand to spray sparks at the salesman and he fled.

He wouldn't be the first person to underestimate a grippli.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:36 AM on May 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


Calling Gerry Turner.
posted by lagomorphius at 10:44 AM on May 23, 2017


Location specific cryptids, or high school team name? You be the judge:

Loveland Frogs
Dover Demons
Lafayette Howling Swamp Apes
Poughkepsie Yodelers
Talladega Bee-People
Duluth Hodags

States have state flowers, state birds, maybe we can get state monsters? I'd like to nominate the Cactus Kitten for official monster of California.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 10:56 AM on May 23, 2017 [7 favorites]


And that's what both fascinates and terrifies me. Fascinated because people believe these things are out there, and also terrified because people believe these things are out there.

I dunno, I like it. Do I believe in all of these mysterious creatures? Nah, not really if I'm honest. But there is a part of my brain that insists on a "maybe". The reason is simple: I don't think too hard at it. If I see a story about the mothman, or the Lakeland Bridge Goat, or wendigos or the Jersey Turkpike Megahobo, or whatever, I specifically stop thinking critically about it. It doesn't hurt anyone to have those stories out there and the world just seems more fun if I keep a spark of credulousness about it.
posted by FakeFreyja at 11:29 AM on May 23, 2017 [4 favorites]


bondcliff: Cryptozoology both fascinates and terrifies me. First of all, outside of the ocean I don't for a second believe that there are large species that have not yet been discovered.
...
But, no, if there were those things we'd have definitive proof by now. Especially in a world where everyone carries a camera with them wherever they go.


thelonius: It does happen, although not that often.

Fun fact: tigers are becoming nocturnal to avoid humans, so it is possible that there are large animals, especially herbivores, that have been even more inclined to shy away from human contact. With a small enough population, some "large" animals remain elusive, like the La Palma giant lizard (Wikipedia, and on Arkive, which lists its snout-vent length: up to 44 cm (~17 inches), and that doesn't include its tail).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:42 AM on May 23, 2017 [2 favorites]


Rainier Valley Mumblers

Duwamish Slough Rain Wisps

The Pierce County Thunker

Hillman City Skin Corgis
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 11:50 AM on May 23, 2017 [5 favorites]




I'm still hoping to catch a glimpse of the Spirit of Glendale one of these days. [context]
posted by moonmilk at 12:47 PM on May 23, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also, how can I be the first to say "🐸" here??
posted by moonmilk at 12:48 PM on May 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


Jersey Turkpike Megahobo

Is this like five or six regular hobos, but Voltron-y
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 5:47 PM on May 23, 2017 [4 favorites]


that is a side effect of some of those supplements
posted by reluctant early bird at 12:28 AM on May 24, 2017


Giant frogs are alive. The legends have to survive.

I guess it's an optical illusion but a 13 pound frog is still extremely large, and I am mentally prepared to go Full Mulder for this one.
posted by Copronymus at 6:41 PM on May 31, 2017


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