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Ga. State Senate Votes to Honor Frogs

Posted on: Wednesday, 23 February 2005, 09:00 CST

ATLANTA - The green tree frog took a significant leap toward becoming Georgia's official state amphibian Tuesday, with the state Senate voting unanimously to honor the tiny creatures.

The 50-0 vote marked the first time in three years that the Senate agreed to the designation - which was originally pushed by a group of fourth-graders studying government at a Rome school.

Last year, the plan was passed in the House, over complaints that it was frivolous, before dying in the Senate.

With a stuffed green frog on the podium before him, Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, the plan's sponsor, gave a pun-filled speech in which he said the students wanted to add an amphibian to a list of state symbols including the state mammal, the state vegetable and the state song.

"I'm going to do my best to deliver a ribbiting speech," said Smith, the plan's sponsor, who alternately complained of a frog in his throat and urged colleagues to "not croak" and pass the bill.

The American green tree frog is native to Florida, South Carolina, Arkansas and south Georgia. Green with cream-colored stripes, the frog lives on a typical amphibian diet of flies, moths and crickets.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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