The Wonder of Frogs

These may just look like a couple of old sinks to you, but to several thousand frogs, they've been home.

Two old Victorian sinks. The first one, the little one in the background, was sunk in the ground when I was a child and it was more successful as a pond than any amount of messing around with proper pond-liners and cement.

So, some years later, it was given an aesthetic makeover with a combination of peat, cement and water, which made it look less like a sink and more like - - well, a sink that's been covered in peat and cement, and then the bigger sink was added too. Over the years mosses and lichens grew, which helped.

When I was a child the garden was a frog-free zone: now there are dozens, so I think I've done my bit for the Survival of the Common Frog. There's always too much frog spawn here, so we have to give some away to other ponds.

Here's what to do (and this could well be my main area of expertise in life, so please don't mock).

HOW TO TURN A TADPOLE INTO A FROG with only the aid of water, pond weed and some frozen mince. Amazing!

When the frogspawn first appears it's in a big semi-transparent blob on the bottom of the pond and after a few days it rises to the top. The small round dark blobs in the middle of each egg then elongate and, after a few days, depending on the temperature, start to wiggle.

Soon they burst out of their spawn and make their way to some pond weed and hold on tight. At this stage they have external gills behind their heads which look like tiny bits of string sticking out.

While they have external gills they are vegetarian: once the gills disappear they eat meat. They will eat insects and worms that fall in the pond, but if there's not enough food they will eat each other so it's a good idea to help them by buying a small amount of frozen mince, thawing a few bits of it every day, and putting it in the pond. The tadpoles will reward you by clustering around it keenly. It's a good idea to take out any uneaten mince lest it poison the water.

After a while, each tadpole will grow two back legs which come through together. At this stage they start to breathe air. Then they get the left front leg, then the right one. Then the tail gradually shrinks and - hey presto! Tiny frogs.

Now, my decades of experience in this field has led me to know that the main aim of a tiny frog is to drown itself as swiftly as possible, so it's a good idea to put in wood or stones that will help the froglets to climb out of the pond. And off they go, to rid your garden of insects for several years to come. When they grow big they look like this:

HINTS AND TIPS:

Resist any temptation to bring frogspawn indoors. It will develop too quickly and the tadpoles will turn into frogs before there are enough insects about to feed them. Also the water becomes very, very smelly very quickly. Trust me, don't do it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q. Why does the front left leg always come through first?

A. Dunno.

Q. What are you doing with that frozen mince, Daffers?

A. Just feeding the tadpoles. Why are you looking at me like that?

Thanks to Gareth who took the picture, above, in Burgundy. Frogs vary in colour and the one above is slightly different from the ones in our garden. But then, it's a French frog.

COMING SOON (but not too soon, I promise)

THE WONDER OF TOADS