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Hibernating frogs....: |
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Paul Ford Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2006 No. of posts: 124  View other posts by Paul Ford |
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!!)
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Paul Hudson Member Joined: 24 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 33 View other posts by Paul Hudson |
Posted: 17 Jan 2010 Those frogs look dead ,I would get them out of the pond as they will pollute the water! Paul Hudson |
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Paul Ford Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2006 No. of posts: 124 View other posts by Paul Ford |
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 |
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Paul Hudson Member Joined: 24 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 33 View other posts by Paul Hudson |
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 |
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will Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 330 View other posts by will |
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
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Paul Ford Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2006 No. of posts: 124 View other posts by Paul Ford |
Posted: 21 Jan 2010 The frogs were fine - they've even started pairing up..........
Sorry, some may not find that very funny |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
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 |
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frogworlduk Senior Member Joined: 19 Aug 2003 No. of posts: 72  View other posts by frogworlduk |
Posted: 22 Jan 2010 that is absolutely amazing. necrophila frog porn...love it! |
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lalchitri Senior Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 No. of posts: 132  View other posts by lalchitri |
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.  Reformed Teetotaller |
- Hibernating frogs.... |
