PANAJI, India (AFP) – At night during the annual monsoon rains, hundreds of tropical villages in rural Goa come alive with the cacophony of croaking bullfrogs calling for mates after months in hibernation.

But while lucky amphibians manage to attract a female consort, an unfortunate few fall prey to poachers who follow the distinctive mating calls to zero in on what they call "jumping chicken."

Gearing up for a frog hunt is like preparing for a covert military mission: You choose a moonless night, wear camouflage to blend in with the surroundings, carry a powerful torch to stun the target and a knife for a quick, silent kill. "We use the torch beam to stun the frog once we spot it from a distance," said one Goan frog hunter, who asked for his name not to be used for fear of prosecution.

"Jumping chicken," as frogs' legs are known in the Indian resort state, are a delicacy, as in France, where they have become a symbol of the country's cuisine.

The Goa version is served either shallow fried, in minced cutlets or cooked in a thick curry. Costs range from 80 to 100 rupees ($1.70 to $2.10), depending on the number of legs or the girth of the cooked limbs.

FIREMEN DISMANTLE CAR TO SAVE KITTEN

VIENNA (AP) – This little kitty went home — but only after Vienna police and firefighters partially dismantled a police car to find it. The naughty feline first woke residents of a Vienna neighborhood with its desperate meowing, then kept police and firefighters busy for much of the night.

She was found under the hood of a car but eluded her rescuers' grasp. The kitten took cover under several other cars before seemingly disappearing — except for her meow.

Firefighters and police finally struck pay dirt after jacking up a police cruiser, then following the sound and tracing the wayward kitty to a small space inside the vehicle's floor panel. But it took half an hour of elbow grease before the critter was rescued.

MAN STEALS TARANTULA

WESTMINSTER, Maryland (AP) – A man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for stealing a spider from a public library. Carroll County Circuit Judge J. Barry Hughes sentenced 27-year-old Randy Humple of Westminster.

Staff at the Westminster library called police May 19 after they discovered Chili Rose, a Chilean Rose tarantula at the information desk, had disappeared. Witnesses told authorities they saw Humple with the spider and that he bragged about swiping it.

Hughes also sentenced Humple to four years in prison for violating his probation in a 2007 assault case.