The Critter Skimmer Story
The Critter Skimmer Story
After years of finding frogs either dead or near-dead in my (Brian Meagher) pool skimmer, I just had to find a way to save them without having goofy floating devices that were eyesores and got in the way of everyday use of the pool.
So in the summer of 2007, I went into my work shop and carved out the first Critter Skimmer and popped it into my pool skimmer.
From that day on, during my morning ritual of coffee-drinking and skimmer-checking, I never found any dead frogs. Occasionally, I found a frog on the ramp that hadn't yet found its way to freedom. Most mornings I found nothing, even after it rained. All pool owners have experienced an increase in the number of unwanted visitors after a rain shower.
On one occasion during the prototype production we took the Critter Skimmer out of the pool skimmer and failed to replace it for a 24 hour period. It rained. When I checked the skimmer, there were 29 frogs in the skimmer basket with no means of escape. I realized that I had to share the Critter Skimmer with other pool owners and save frogs from needlessly dying in pool skimmers across North America.