Tadpoles

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on April 5, 2019 at 10:18

Hi Valerie, I'd like some please. Our pond seems to have lost our frog population of late. 

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Permalink Reply by Alison P on April 5, 2019 at 17:34

I’ve got an awful lot too (frogspawn rather than tadpoles). Seymour Road. Happy to share ..

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Permalink Reply by Liz on April 6, 2019 at 10:56

Just to sound a note of caution here about moving frogspawn and tadpoles. If you have a lot of frogspawn chances are many tadpoles will be eaten by predators (only about 5 frogs will survive from 2000 eggs). If you have no spawn there’s probably a good reason why frogs have rejected it - predators or other conditions making it unsuitable. 

It’s generally not considered a good idea to move frogspawn as you can spread amphibian diseases and invasive plants - frog life has advice here https://www.froglife.org/tag/frogspawn/

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on April 6, 2019 at 12:03

Thanks for that reminder, Liz. Any idea why frogs might have started rejecting my pond? As far as I'm aware no conditions have changed.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on April 6, 2019 at 16:19

1. Not sure. Frogs usually return to their natal pond to mate so if your frogs were taken by predators (herons, ducks, cats for example), then there wouldn’t be any spawn. It’s also possible that they will return in due course if this proves to a good year for spawn. Last year, thanks to Beast from the East, was disastrous for frogs and numbers are down. Frog life offer good advice on ponds.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/27/specieswatch-sp...

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