Thread: Counting frogs
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Old 19-03-2003, 11:32 PM
ned
 
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Default Counting frogs

Kay Easton wrote:
Does anyone have any idea how to count the frogs in a pond?

For example - I counted 36 frogs in the pond today - does that mean
I have 36 frogs? Or have I got nearer 50?

can one tell form how much spawn there is? Does each female lay one
batch or more than one batch - eg if I have 20 batches of spawn
have I got 20 females or could it have been laid by,say, 5 females?

How many females does each male mate with? I presume once he's
fertilised one batch of eggs, he won't just sit on the sidelines,
he'll see if he can find another female.


Nothing authoritive here, just observation.

I have found that I count many more frogs by torchlight after dark
than I see during the day.

I suspect that females do spawn more than once per season. I seriously
doubt that I have one female for every batch of spawn in my pond.

The small males seem to outnumber the females 2:1 in my pond. There is
always competition for the females. I have seen one passive female
smothered by four males all waiting for that oportunistic moment. So I
guess one clump of spawn could contain diverse genetic content.

Spawning seems to take place in 'favoured' places in the pond. So when
the female drags herself (and suitors) to that favoured place, there
is every chance that all the males in the neighbourhood could be in
attendance.

Wrap up warm when you go out with the torch. ;-)

--
ned

....... isn't it a shame that common sense
is not all that common.