A French woman has accidentally annoyed her neighbors with her garden pond — and it's not even her fault. Unexpected amphibian visitors are to blame.
The Guardian reported that 92-year-old Colette Ferry, a resident of the tiny French village Frontenex, received a visit from local law enforcement after they received complaints from neighbors about noisy frogs in her yard.
The three frogs in question are not Ferry's pets, so the homeowner has little control over the matter.
"They're in and out of the water playing with my fish. It's my entertainment," Ferry said to a local radio station, according to The Guardian.
"A man came here and was really yelling at me, saying he could not sleep and he had to work … but I did not expect the [police]. Especially not for frogs! But there's always someone ready to complain about someone else," Ferry said.
Ferry is far from the first homeowner to find that kindness toward nature can put you in direct conflict with your local community.
In recent months, numerous homeowners have taken to Reddit to air their grievances about strict neighbors and homeowners associations (HOAs) that stand in direct opposition to their property improvement projects, such as vegetable gardens that help local ecosystems thrive and composting bins that help reduce wastefulness.
The Guardian also reported that French lawmakers recently passed legislation to keep the nation's countryside as natural as possible by protecting "sensory heritage" — that is, the smells and sounds of local wildlife.
"Living in the countryside implies accepting some nuisances," Joël Giraud, the minister for rural life at the time of the law's passing, said to lawmakers.
Ferry is excited to see what happens next, as the French police assured her that someone will return to apprehend the frogs from her property.
"That'll be fun … they jump," Ferry said.
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