I've read, but not witnessed, that some frogs will eat the spawn of others
as one way of giving their own offspring a fighting chance.

It's cool you have tree frogs. Here in England the range of amphibian
species is quite small.

Darren

"Lee Brouillet" wrote in message
...
My fish (koi) don't like Southern Toads: they must taste NASTY. I've
watched
the fish spit out a toadpole they accidently picked up while scrounging
algae (putooey!). And my pond is screened with a pool enclosure, so
nothing
else can get them (in fact, I've often wondered how they get IN!), which
adds to the mystery of where they go: you'd think they'd be lined up
patiently at the areas where they can get out. Very strange. I've thought
about trying to get some real frogs (I have tree frogs, though) to live in
the pond area. They live in the water gardens in the back yard. Maybe this
year I'll transport a few of them from back to front!

Lee

"Darren Jackson" darren-jackson@2002-connectfree-co-uk wrote in message
. ..
Tadpoles/toadpoles are quickly gobbled up by fish and other predators
including birds. More than once last year I saw crows pecking them out
the
water. I hand reared some indoors last year (they develop very quickly
in
the warm 20**°C indoors compared to the "cold" 0°C to 10°C outdoors.
They
just need the water clearing out every other day or so as it gets pretty
mucky. It's cool to watch them develop though. Even as froglets they are
susceptible to predators, I saw a couple get gobbled by my modestly
sized
fish. They reckon in the wild only a fraction of 1% survive, hence the
amount of spawn they lay!!

Darren

"Lee Brouillet" wrote in message
...
How cute!!! All I seem to get around here are Southern Toads: they
engage
in - amplexus - (such a fancy name for what they're doin'! G) and
leave
.
. . 3 days later, the pond's full of toadpoles. Shortly thereafter,
they
all
disappear - I mean every last one of 'em! - during the day, while I'm
at
work. When I leave, there are a gazillion of them - when I come home,
not
a
one! You'd think my yard would look like the 7th Plague of Egypt, but
you
can't find a single, solitary toadlet. Very strange. . .

Lee


"Darren Jackson" darren-jackson@2002-connectfree-co-uk wrote in
message
.. .
First signs of frog amplexus here in central England today. The
water
is
still quite cold, betwen 1°C and 4°C over the past few days. Two
pairs
of
frogs getting all loved up though. The new batch, coming soon! :-)

Here are a few photos from last year.
http://www.aprt65.dsl.pipex.com/darrenjackson/Pond.html

Any other signs of action around the UK?

Regards
Darren