UKC

No, not a brexit question. I have been surprised, on yesterday walk and today's run, by lots of squashed frogs on the country roads around here. What are they up to? I suppose they might be travelling to a pond to do the frogspawn thing, but why not do that in one's regular pond?

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Just noticed the exact same thing while walking the dog!

In reply to BusyLizzie:
For a couple of weeks we have been finding loads of frogspawn on wet roads/ barely puddles/ Wet grass in Llanberis and surrounding area.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

There's a crag not too far from where I used to live called Anthon Anthon#maps which once a year became a killing field for frogs. The crag was on one side of the road and a lake on the other and their programmed route led them across the road. There was often a carpet of dry flattened frogs, dozens... maybe hundreds of them. This led to an amusing conversation with Mark Diggins one day:

Mark: Had a great day at Anthon yesterday.
Me: Oh yes? Many frogs?
Mark: No. Had the place to ourselves.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Frogs don't live in ponds all year round. They are quite happy in damp areas, under foliage etc - that's where they find a lot of their food, like slugs and other invertebrates. They don't need standing (or running) water all the time. The ones that get squished are likely to have been trying to make their way to a pond (possibly the pond they originally grew up in as tadpoles) for spawning, having spent most of the year elsewhere.

For a few weeks now we've had two or three frogs hanging around in our garden pond, although most of year we hardly see any - one at most, but even then only occasionally. We now have three clumps of frogspawn in the pond, and the frogs appear to have pretty much b*ggered off. This is what they do. They (or others) will be back this time next year. Fortunately there are a lot of gardens backing on to each other round here, so the frogs don't have to risk road crossings (unless they're feeling really adventurous).

In reply to BusyLizzie:

It's an annual thing, they are all randy and trying to find love but they've not been watching Super Ted and Spotty man so they're not very good at crossing the road.
In some places they have crossing patrols for them.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Our frogs came back last week.
After 2 mild winters back to back there are more frogs in our pond than I have ever seen before.
Unfortunately there are a few on the road outside the house too.
It's a shame, we have left bits of the garden to go wild, put in stone piles that has a great covering of ivy (from village as the wife calls it) log piles, left the shed footings open, a couple of very sheltered areas with lots of tree cover and bramble bushes and some of them still think the church yard over the road is the place to be.

In reply to BusyLizzie:
Lots of splashy frogs in our pond, no frogspawn as yet - new dog fascinated! Always good to see.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

They are intent on screwing or in more gentile parlance, courting

In reply to Trangia:

Frogs porn.

In reply to BusyLizzie: Counted 12 frogs in our small pond this morning. I'm sure the heron will be around soon.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

I wonder if it is connected to the bright full moon?

In reply to Baron Weasel:


Is this the kinda thing you mean? https://tinyurl.com/z8as4pa

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Poor old froggies. Yes, that's explained then ... off home for some frogs porn, perhaps under the full moon, hoppity skippety hop. and along comes the tractor ...

In reply to BusyLizzie:

I wish there was an icon for musical notes, because I would use them here:

"I feel the earth ... move ... under my toes, I feel the world come a tumbling down..."

Squelch.

Ah well; it's what they would have wanted.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Just outside our house is an official road sign, red triangle and all, depicting a frog - or toad - with the words Feb - Mar. We live on a hillside with no ponds nearby except for a small one we constructed in our garden, which the road sign preceded. I have seen a handful of dead frogs in the 15 years we've been here. It's a mystery, as is what drivers are expected to do about it.

In reply to Rog Wilko: There are lots of similar signs for Red Squirrels in parts of the Lake District - what's one meant to do? wave? You should be so lucky as to see a red from the car

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Drive slow enough to avoid them? It may be a certain species of frog/toad that's of concern rather than high numbers.

In reply to Trangia:


Damn those foul-mouthed jews!