It's not quite as sad as it sounds, this family member was not a person per say, but more of a pet. 

OK, it was actually not a person at all but only a pet, and this pet did not pass away like the title might imply, but instead was released back into it's natural habitat.

So, actually this post is not sad at all. :)

If you saw my post earlier today it talked about a new addition to our family, an American Bullfrog. 

The post can be seen here:

https://steemit.com/nature/@jrcornel/check-out-our-new-pet

*On a side note the more posts I do like this, the more my blog is starting to look more and more like something you might read from @herpetologyguy or @countryinspired or even @papa-pepper. All 3 are excellent bloggers by the way and worth checking out if you haven't already!

In order to make room for the new addition we had to let some of our other amphibian pets go. 

The first thing we had to do was choose a suitable location to let them go. What better place to let them go then the place where we caught them?!

A large runoff pond behind the golf course near our house. 

We caught them there when they were no bigger than a nickle. One was even about the size of a dime. Now they are the size of a baseball... with one being close to the size of a softball.

Once the location was set, it was time to set them free...

That's the four of them awaiting their freedom in the bucket. Aren't they cute?

That is my stepson carrying them to their new home.

You can see a couple of them there, hopping away to their freedom as my stepson says goodbye to them with a tear in his eye...

It was a bittersweet day for the @jrcornel household. 

On one hand we added an exciting new addition in the bullfrog, but on the other hand we had to part with 4 toads that had been with us for the past 8 months. It was good to be able to give them their freedom back though and at some point I anticipate we will do the same with the frog. 

We have somewhat become a growth sanctuary for these little critters. We keep them for a bit until they are mature and then release them back into their homes with a better chance of survival now that they are fully grown. 

The only difficult part is convincing my stepson that it is in their best interest to let them go. He would prefer it we just kept every little creature we caught, forever. 

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the pictures!

*Images were taken by me

Follow me: @jrcornel