Answer is TOADS. If you google comic strip in swamp you are sure to hit something talking about Walt Kelly's "POGO". Read a post or a wikipedia page or two and you will see some names of the main characters, probably Albert, Churchy LaFemme, and Howland Owl, at least. You will recognize those as entries in the grid and you will realize we probably need to find characters in the grid. Do a bit of research and you will find Beauregard Bugleboy and Mam'zelle Hepzibah. [Sorry, about FLO15DProgressive Insurance spokesperson[---]. That was not part of the meta but their may (or may not) by a minor bug referred to as Flo. Sorry. Sometimes entries slip in.] 60A60ACritters (and a clue to the meta)[-------] tells you that ANIMALS60ACritters (and a clue to the meta)[-------] are clue, so you ask yourself what animals the characters are and they are:
Churchy - Turtle
Howland- Owl
Albert- Alligator
Beauregard- Dog
Hepzibah- Skunk.
Now, hopefully in getting caught up in research you didn't forget this is a meta and the single most basic and most common thing you should always try first with metas is take initial letters and see if they spell anything. In this case they spell:
TOADS
Frogs as minor characters appear frequently. Toads are not as common but they do occasionally. Frogs are often referred to as hoppy-toads and the distinction seems... er, amphibious.