Avatar:Wood frog

"The frog skin excretes a substance that will cure your friends. Be sure to get plenty because once those little critters thaw out, they're useless!"

— The herbalist advises Aang about how to use wood frogs to heal Katara and Sokka.

<infobox theme-source="nation"> <image source="image" /> <title source="name"><default>Wood frog</default></title> <group> <header>General information</header> <label>Habitat</label> <label>Status</label> <label>Bending</label> <label>Uses</label> </group> <group> <header>Chronological information</header> <label>First appearance</label> <label>Last appearance</label> <label>Voiced by</label> </group> <header>Image gallery (0)</header> </infobox> The wood frog is a palm-sized, brown-colored amphibian that is found throughout the west coast of the Earth Kingdom. During the winter, it hibernates by freezing itself and sitting at the bottom of a swamp. While frozen, its skin excretes a substance that coats its entire body in order to insulate the creature from the cold. This protective layer also has medicinal purposes, as it can be used as a cure for the common head cold in humans.

History

When Katara and Sokka became ill, Avatar Aang was instructed by the herbalist to collect frozen wood frogs, as the substance excreted by their skin would help cure their illness. Aang managed to collect several frogs, but after he was captured by the Yuyan Archers, they thawed out and escaped from the prison cell he was detained in. After being rescued by the Blue Spirit from his imprisonment, Aang found more frozen wood frogs and returned to Sokka and Katara, placing the frogs in their mouths and telling them to suck on them until the illness wore off. Sokka claimed that the substance excreted by the frogs was "tasty", but he and Katara spat the wood frogs out after they thawed and began to wriggle.

Connection

The wood frog is based on the real world wood frog, which is able to survive being frozen to a certain degree.

Trivia

• The Wood Frog Lumberyard was named after this creature.
• In the 20th and 21st centuries, scientists discovered that frogs secrete diverse antimicrobial substances. They are used in alternative medicine in various countries around the world. In ancient China, live frogs were ingested to treat various ailments, a tradition that continues to this day. In Russia, Poland, and other Slavic countries, there is a popular method for treating sore throats with frogs, consisting of dipping the amphibians in milk.

See also

• Fauna in the World of Avatar