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RAUK - Archived Forum - Hibernating frogs....

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Hibernating frogs....:

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Paul Ford
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2006
No. of posts: 124


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Posted: 17 Jan 2010

Some poor pictures I took today of some hibernating frogs lying motionless at the bottom of a small pond:

 

 

The pond belongs to my father-in-law who assures me that they are very much alive and not all dead as they appear (I sure hope he's right!!)

 


Paul Hudson
Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
No. of posts: 33


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Posted: 17 Jan 2010
Those frogs look dead ,I would get them out of the pond as they will pollute the water!
Paul Hudson
Paul Ford
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2006
No. of posts: 124


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Posted: 17 Jan 2010

Hmm, they do look dead don't they! I'm sure they don't hibernate with their eyes closed

My mother-in-law swears she saw some move - hopefully some are ok

The pond isn't that deep so it would not suprise me that with the recent cold snap the temperature at the bottom went below 4 degrees.

I'll get my father-in-law to gently prod them with a stick and fish out the dead ones.

Cheers

Paul


Paul Hudson
Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
No. of posts: 33


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Posted: 17 Jan 2010

I had a very small ,shallow garden pond years ago back in the 1980,s and one Spring following a prolonged freeze I removed over 50 dead adult frogs ,the pond was probably about 1 foot in depth ,totally useless for hibernation purposes,

However that same Spring saw dozens of clumps of spawn ,perhaps that had  come from frogs that had hibernated in deeper ponds elsewhere or in terrestrial haunts.

Paul Hudson


Paul Hudson
will
Senior Member
Joined: 27 Feb 2007
No. of posts: 330


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Posted: 18 Jan 2010

Hi Paul

Those frogs look every bit as alive as the Norweigian Blue in the Parrot sketch...

Iced over ponds often end up with a mass of dead frogs in them, especially males which chose the strategy of overwintering in the pond to be first on the scene for the females (which mostly hibernate on land) in the spring.  This year I guess the winning strategy will be those males which played safe and wintered on land (assuming they chose frost free sites).

I agree with Paul - fish them out of the pond before decomposition makes the water more anaerobic, which will kill more frogs - a vicious circle

Cheers

Will

 


Paul Ford
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2006
No. of posts: 124


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Posted: 21 Jan 2010

The frogs were fine - they've even started pairing up..........

Sorry, some may not find that very funny


GemmaJF
Admin Group
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
No. of posts: 2090


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Posted: 21 Jan 2010
 OK I shouldn't laugh, but very good Paul. You should send that into the papers, do you think they would twig?
Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant
frogworlduk
Senior Member
Joined: 19 Aug 2003
No. of posts: 72


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Posted: 22 Jan 2010
that is absolutely amazing. necrophila frog porn...love it!  frogworlduk40200.8998263889
lalchitri
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Jun 2006
No. of posts: 132


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Posted: 23 Jan 2010
Found this on my garden path Thursday 21st Jan.
Occasionally seen this with a dead female close by, but nothing in this case.
Have put it in a water jar, but doubt anything will come of it.



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