Just north of Milwaukee, you'll find a frog emporium full of some of the most unique animals in the world. There are frogs so transparent you can see their organs. Frogs in colors you won't find in nature.
Step inside Rainforest Rick's frog emporium. Rick Boyd is an associate professor in Marquette University's physics department, but on the side, he likes to breed frogs.
“People might say oh yeah he's got frogs and they think of the traditional Wisconsin green frogs, and then they come here, and they're like, whoa these are beautiful," Boyd said.
Boyd is considered one of the only people in the United States to have successfully bred a granulosa glass frog in captivity. It's the kind that you can see its organs. Similarily, he bred another transparent tree frog. Boyd even bred a frog that has a unique pattern of blue and gold that he calls Marquette colors.
“It makes me so happy because I feel like I'm in my element," Boyd said about being in his emporium.
The emporium is more akin to a scientific laboratory. It's a strictly controlled environment to mimic the habitats of Central and South America. Inside, there are about 30 mature frogs and hundreds of tadpoles, eggs, and embryos. His breeding is part hobby, part business, and part conservation.
“Some of them are endangered, so part of it is a little bit of a Noah's ark situation, and the offspring, some of them I keep, but many of them I'm teaching others who would like to have them as a terrarium pet," he said.
He sells frogs to hobbyists and exotic pet shops.
Rainforest Rick became enamored with frogs after a friend brought a few tadpoles to a dinner party (instead of a dessert or a bottle of wine). Boyd, who has a bachelor's degree in zoology and grew up intrigued by critters of all sizes, was immediately fascinated. Then he slowly began acquiring more tadpoles to create a breeding colony. Now, eight years later, he has developed a highly sophisticated breeding operation that is creating transparent and colorful frogs.
Boyd will incorporate his frogs into his lesson plans. The classes he teaches are Earth and Environmental Physics and Major Concepts in Modern Science. Rainforest Rick brings the lessons he learned while breeding into his lessons on genetics. It's a way to make the textbook or educational videos come to life.
“I think it helps them to be much more tuned into, oh yeah that YouTube video I was watching here's an actual frog and here's really really what they're talking about.”
Boyd has had many careers. He has a zoology degree, taught AP chemistry in Mukwonago, became a financial planner, and then started teaching at Marquette University. He hopes his last career endeavor will be the founding of the Rain Forest Rick Education Center. It's a concept to bring more people into rainforest-type environments to learn about tropical frogs. He would combine an Airbnb model with a walk-through frog exhibit. The frogs would hop around the visitors as they explored the rainforest environment. It would be kind of like the tropical section of the Milwaukee Domes but with frogs.
Watch the story to see more of Rainforest Rick's frogs...
You can find out more about the Rainforest Rick Education Center here. There is no specific timeline set up for it yet.
Oh, and for good measure, Boyd also has two chameleons. Just because he can.
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