All about frogs
One of our favourite signs of spring is the appearance of frogspawn. These beautiful little glistening globes are not only a sign that there are frogs living nearby, but also that the environment is healthy enough for them to reproduce and, if all goes well, that there will be more frogs in the future!
The Common frog
In the UK, there are two native species of frog and two native species of toad. If you’ve spotted a frog, it’s most likely to be the Common Frog, or Rana temporaria. You can find these all across the UK, near water like ponds, lakes and canals.
They spend winter resting under rocks, compost heaps and at the bottom of ponds - so be careful if you’re clearing out any of these, as you might injure them! In the early spring, once the weather has warmed up enough, they’ll head straight to a pond to breed.Common frogs lay large clumps of frogspawn, which looks like a little like a clear-jelly like ball with a small black dot within it; that little black dot is the egg. Spawn can be laid anytime from the end of January onwards and it can take between two and four weeks before the tadpoles hatch out.The little tadpoles swim in their home pond, feeding on algae and water fleas, and start to grow back legs after 16 weeks, then front legs, then their tail gets absorbed back into their body. Once this happens, they will leave their pond home as little froglets in the summer.Female Common frogs grow up to 13 cm in size, and the males up to 9 cm, so the females are bigger. They are usually green or brown, but you can get different colours coming through - including pink, red, lime green and yellow! They stripes on their hind legs and a darker patch behind their eyes that looks a little like a mask
Other frogs and toad species
If you’re really lucky, you might spot the very endangered and rare Pool frog, or Pelophylax lessonae. Thought to have gone extinct in the UK in the 1950’s, a small population has been reintroduced to a site in Norfolk.You might also spot the Common toad, or Bufo bufo. It’s larger than the native frogs, has lumpy skin, and like other toads tends to crawl rather than hop to move about.And if you’re wondering how to tell the difference between a frog and toad, the main difference is in the skin; frogs are fairly smooth, toads tend to be very lumpy. The Wildlife Trusts guideWildlife Trusts guide on how to tell the difference between frogs and toads is a great help.
Can I watch the frogspawn develop?
Observing the frogspawn is a great way to learn more about the development of these beautiful animals. The charity Froglife has a guide to raising frogspawn, which ensures that it’s looked after properly. Ideally, leave the frogspawn where it is and observe it by coming back regularly to see how it’s developing.If you do decide to grow frogspawn up at home or school, make sure you return the tadpoles or frogs to the same pond you got the spawn from. This makes sure that you don’t accidentally spread any frog diseases that might be present to another location.
Are frogs under threat?
There are two main threats to frogs and toads in the UK, and globally.The first is a disease called Ranavirus, which affects the delicate skin of the frog. It can be transmitted by touch, so if you do handle a frog, make sure you clean your hands before and after so as not to transmit the disease to other locations where it might not already exist. Ranavirus doesn’t affect humans.
The second is habitat destruction and urbanisation. As more of the countryside is built on, there are fewer and fewer natural habitats for frogs to live in. However, this is where you come in. Frogs love a garden pond, so if you can put a pond in your garden if you have one, or your school grounds, or campaign to have one put in your local park, it can give frogs more places to live and thrive.