Strange spring [1/1]
 

I took this on the 24th Feb (about a month too early) tadpoles have
started moving and look ready to hatch. Now the weather's suddenly
going back to normal with sleet and night frosts.

--
Sue ]:(:)

Strange spring [1/1]
 

"MadCow" wrote in message
...




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I took this on the 24th Feb (about a month too early) tadpoles have
started moving and look ready to hatch. Now the weather's suddenly
going back to normal with sleet and night frosts.

--
Sue ]:(:)

That's a splendid picture, Sue, what are the red spots?

Right now, in Leeds, Yorkshire, the ground is covered with hailstones but
the sky is clear and very blue, the trees are thrashing. I haven't seen or
heard a frog in our garden for months and there's no spawn yet.

Mary

Strange spring [1/1]
 

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...



Right now, in Leeds, Yorkshire, the ground is covered with hailstones but
the sky is clear and very blue, the trees are thrashing. I haven't seen or
heard a frog in our garden for months and there's no spawn yet.

And just a few minutes later it's grey and the hail is coming down - or
rather across - again.

Mary

Strange spring [1/1]
 

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...



Right now, in Leeds, Yorkshire, the ground is covered with hailstones but
the sky is clear and very blue, the trees are thrashing. I haven't seen
or heard a frog in our garden for months and there's no spawn yet.

And just a few minutes later it's grey and the hail is coming down - or
rather across - again.

And now it's horizontal snow and I can hardly see the house behind ours -
the ch has come on (it's set at 10C), hasn't been as cold as this for
months!

Poor hens, poor frogs, poor flowers ... :-(

Mary

Strange spring [1/1]
 

MadCow wrote:


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I took this on the 24th Feb (about a month too early) tadpoles have
started moving and look ready to hatch. Now the weather's suddenly
going back to normal with sleet and night frosts.


They're probably toast, to use thoroughly inapt cliche.

The most immediate effect of fast climate change is that the flora and
fauna that respond to seasonal temperature changes will get out of synch
with those that respond to seasonal light changes. In the northern
latitudes, even small shifts, on the order of a week or two either way
relative to each other, will mess up the ecology, because in the
northern latitudes those responses are perforce very quick - there isn't
enough mating/growing time otherwise. That's why the people who live in
more temperate climates are less likely to believe that climate change
is happening far quicker than most scenarios predicted. A shift of a
week or two either way makes little difference when it takes a couple of
weeks or longer for the response to occur.

--

Wolf

"Don't believe everything you think." (Maxine)

Strange spring [1/1]
 

In message , Wolf
writes

I took this on the 24th Feb (about a month too early) tadpoles
have started moving and look ready to hatch. Now the weather's
suddenly going back to normal with sleet and night frosts.

They're probably toast, to use thoroughly inapt cliche.


They've started to move through the jelly, but instead of moving out of
the mass they're all huddled together in the middle of it !
I don't know if this is normal, it's my first year with my own pond.

I think they'll be all right so long as they're submerged.

I don't know whether frogs spawn according to daylength or temperature?
Either way, they must be resistant to late frosts because they usually
spawn well before the traditional last cold snap in mid-April.

I look forward to boring you with pictures of froglets...

--
Sue ]:(:)

Strange spring [1/1]
 

MadCow wrote:
In message , Wolf
[..]
I don't know whether frogs spawn according to daylength or temperature?

I can't recall, I believe it's temperature.

Either way, they must be resistant to late frosts because they usually
spawn well before the traditional last cold snap in mid-April.

I look forward to boring you with pictures of froglets...

A cold snap is unlikely to freeze the water, and IIRC tadpoles don't
tolerate freezing. Water crystals tend to puncture the cell walls. So
the trick to be mastered is to be able to cool below 0C without
freezing. I know that some amphibians can do so, but AFAIK they all live
in the high Arctic. The proteins in the tadpoles themselves, and in
jelly surrounding the eggs, reduce the freezing temperature below 0C, so
that your tadpoles may become quite cold during a cold snap, but not
frozen. I think their metabolism stops (it's been a long time since I
learned about these matters. :-)) Like other exothermic animals, they
can tolerate long spells of very low or even suspended metabolism.

I think you're right, these wigglers will survive. I don't find pictures
of frogs boring at all!

--

Wolf

"Don't believe everything you think." (Maxine)