Fate has adopted the pond in the woods where we walked. She has skated on the ice, chewed on the ice, raced around the pound, pulled chunks of ice out and dragged them around, bitten holes in the ice. This week, the peepers came out in force – the frogs – and they are making a big racket on the pond and popping up to the surface in droves.

So Fate, of course, has begun obsessing with them and trying to grab one or two. This involves creeping into the water – it is deeper with the melt and the rain – and she only ventures in a few inches, and diving her head in when she sees a frog or hears one. Like chipmunks, it’s all about the chase, not the kill. I doubt she will catch one, but she will have a riotous time and totally unnerve the frogs in the pond.