Sophia Mosbrucker shares a memorable night as a Refuge Technician, where starlit skies, bullfrog calls, and teamwork come together.

I’m standing still. There’s water up to my hips but I can feel only the cool tinge through my waders. It’s so dark. I’ve always been scared of the dark but here… here I feel totally at ease. Emma is standing a couple feet to my left and Riley is a little farther in front of me. I can just make out their silhouettes. I’m straining to listen for a bullfrog call but the birds and insects are loud and I’m easily distracted.
There’s a light below me and to my right. When I turn slowly, so as not to make splashing sounds, I realize it’s a star. The stars are so bright and the water is so still, that I can see reflections of the stars as if they are floating all around me. There’s this rising feeling in my chest like I need to laugh or cry. I hear a croaking in front of me, Riley is mimicking a male bullfrog call. It’s a common tactic to start a chorus (essentially male bullfrogs shouting their location so females can find them). After his four croaks we descend back into silence.
From our left, an almost exact replica of Riley’s call. There’s another. Then one from our right. They are still distant, bullfrogs can be heard from a quarter mile away. I’m smiling and I can see Emma quivering with excitement too. When things fall silent a minute or two later Riley turns on his headlamp and with a grin, he declares it’s officially frog season.
We quickly discuss how we are going to find the closest frog and are off. There’s a leak in the foot of my waders but what’s a wet sock when the hunt is on. The canary grass and cattails are so tall I have trouble pushing through them. My gig is ten feet long and I keep having to lift it high above my head to keep it from crashing through the grass. Riley is walking too fast, Emma and I can’t keep up. I hear Emma calling behind me. She’s gotten a gnat in her eye. She’s whisper-yelling for me to get it out, I’m terrified of touching her eye, and we are both giggling at the absurdity of this moment.
By the time the bug is taken care of we have lost Riley. We can still see his light through the tall grass every once in a while so we do our best to head that way. The water is rising and I’m desperately trying not to let it go over the top of my waders (colloquially known as “topping”). The grass is tall enough that we can’t see above it at all. We’re still giggling, I just can’t seem to stop. Riley finally starts calling our names to guide us to him. We come out of the tall grasses into a huge pool of water. Riley tells us to go around the edge where it’s more “shallow”. Apparently we have different definitions of shallow.
We make our way around to him. I’m worried he’s annoyed we got lost but then I hear a quiet chuckling. When Emma asks what he’s laughing at he says “oh nothing” while clearly laughing at the two struggling short people. Once we’ve been reunited we’re off again in the direction of the frog. I don’t know how Riley knows exactly which pool the bullfrog is in after hearing it only once but I’ve learned these experienced hunters are in a league of their own.
We stop at the suspected pool, turn our lights off, and everything is still and silent again. The cycle repeats. Stillness, darkness, silhouettes, and Riley’s mimicry. This time there isn’t a chorus of bullfrogs in response, just a short, loud, chirp. After two rounds of artificial calling and two chirps in response Riley turns on his light, tells us to stay and is moving.
Emma and I whisper about where the frog is, and if the frog was the one chirping. We hear Riley’s croaking call again from the other side of the pool. One loud trill in response. Riley instructs us to turn our lights on. Back off. There’s a loud crack. Emma and I both jump at the gunshot and I’m gripping her arm and laughing. Riley comes back triumphant, holding the frog. He tells us that the loud chirping was the bullfrog telling a more dominant male (Riley) to leave his territory. The hunt ends there. I walk back to the truck and bring it down the levy road to pick them up. I’m wet, I’m cold, I’m happy, and that night I dream I’m standing in a field of stars.
