One early, misty morning, Thomas Reiner, a 64-year-old farmer from Nebraska, as usual, walked through his soybean fields to inspect his crops.
He had lived alone since his wife passed away, and these quiet, habitual mornings set the pace for his days.
But on this particular morning, something utterly unusual greeted him: after a recent rainfall, scattered across the soil among the green shoots, lay hundreds of small,
translucent eggs with a bluish-gray tint, as if an unseen hand had deliberately spread them out.
Thomas stood frozen, having never encountered eggs like these before — too large for insects, yet too small for birds.
Carefully, he photographed them and sent the images to a local biologist, hoping someone could unravel the mystery.
The following day, specialists from the University of Nebraska arrived, eagerly examining the peculiar discovery.
They had no idea they were witnessing a rare natural phenomenon, influenced by climate change.
The eggs belonged to a spotted tree frog, an amphibian increasingly seen in the area in recent years due to rising humidity and milder winters.
What was most remarkable, however, was that the eggs were not laid in water, as is customary, but on the ground amid the plants — an unusual location that might represent a mistaken adaptation.
Most likely, the female had used a small, temporary water channel formed after the rain or simply erred in trying to survive under new environmental conditions.
A few days later, to Thomas’s delight and to witness nature’s wonder more closely, a tiny, translucent tadpole hatched from one of the eggs.
Gently, he set aside a small, water-filled patch on his land where the tadpoles could continue their development.
Sadly, the remaining eggs dried out, but the experience of hosting such a unique and unexpected creature forever transformed his daily routine.