Frog spawn anyone?

gypsygirl

Hi All,
Do any of your kids collect frog spawn anymore? It seems that no-one does this anymore (or blackberry picking). I remember as a kid (mid forties now), we'd collect it every year and watch it turn into froglets and then put them back where we collected the spawn from. I loved it... This year I decided to do it again to teach my two young neices (4 and 5) the life cycle of frogs. Last Saturday myself and the 4yr old went for a walk with one of my dogs and checked out all the large puddles/streams in my local fields, just as I was giving up hope of finding any, we spotted one clump in the last boggy area, obviously just spawned on the Friday night. I collected about 1/4of the spawn and brought it home, we put it in a fish bowl on top of a heatpad with a UVA/B light overhead, (I have two tortoises so I had the mat n bulb already) by Monday morning we could already see the dots (tadpoles) starting to stretch out and today the bowl is alive with activity. Some are already trying to break out of the sac, My neices are amazed by it, in particular the 4 yr old, I'm really looking forward to the next few months watching the progress of the tadders and explaining it all to the kiddies. Sorry for the long post, just a little excited. Lol, Kiddies are so far very interested in the whole thing, we're gonna set up a small tank with rocks when they become froglets, Anyone else still collect spawn/blackberries?

monty_python

* The practice of removing frog spawn from the wild to keep in jars is
illegal, but it unfortunately continues. This should be discouraged through
a public awareness campaign run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service
and anyone caught in this act should receive a fine for failure to comply
with the Wildlife Acts (1976 & 2000)


http://www.ipcc.ie/prfrogresults09-2003.html

tallus

I used to collect it myself years back. Now I have a pond in the back garden and frogs breed in it every year. No spawn so far this year tho . Last year I got 5 large clumps of spawn.

luckat

I'm told that it's illegal in Ireland because it endangers wild populations, and encouraged in England because it spreads frogs and gives them a better chance. Go figure.

I wouldn't collect it unless I had a known good pond to put them in, with good surroundings for frogs to live in when spawned.

gypsygirl

monty_python wrote: »

* The practice of removing frog spawn from the wild to keep in jars is
illegal, but it unfortunately continues. This should be discouraged through
a public awareness campaign run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service
and anyone caught in this act should receive a fine for failure to comply
with the Wildlife Acts (1976 & 2000)


http://www.ipcc.ie/prfrogresults09-2003.html

Wow, I didn't realise it was illegal, I thought that maybe I was even helping as the puddles tend to dry up before they have completely turned into frogs. I think I'll put them into my sisters pond and build a pond for my own garden in time for next year. :eek:

tallus

gypsygirl wrote: »

Wow, I didn't realise it was illegal, I thought that maybe I was even helping as the puddles tend to dry up before they have completely turned into frogs. I think I'll put them into my sisters pond and build a pond for my own garden in time for next year. :eek:

I'd tent to agree on the puddles drying up. I have seen frogspawn in the puddles made by grooves left by tyre tracks that had no chance whatsoever of making it.

Rory123

tallus wrote: »

I have seen frogspawn in the puddles made by grooves left by tyre tracks that had no chance whatsoever of making it.

Ah the beauty of nature! It should be allowed to run it's course.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

luckat wrote: »

I'm told that it's illegal in Ireland because it endangers wild populations, and encouraged in England because it spreads frogs and gives them a better chance. Go figure.

I wouldn't collect it unless I had a known good pond to put them in, with good surroundings for frogs to live in when spawned.

It's the same law in England. This is an EU law. In fact Ireland has a large and healthy frog population, unlike the rest of Europe, and doesn't require the protection afforded by the legislation but we are party to it.

You cannot collect frog spawn without a licence: Schools have a licence so the kids can still learn the marvel of the frog's life cycle.

sorella

Really?

Interesting idea....

Rory123 wrote: »

Ah the beauty of nature! It should be allowed to run it's course.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

gypsygirl wrote: »

Wow, I didn't realise it was illegal, I thought that maybe I was even helping as the puddles tend to dry up before they have completely turned into frogs.

Well it is! :P

I honestly wouldn't worry about losing the small amount of frogspawn left in a puddle. This wouldn't be viable in most cases as oxygen levels would be all wrong. It will feed some other creatures anyway. There is plenty of frog spawn in the country and millions of eggs get eaten by birds and fish. I'd let Nature be.

tallus

Found some in my pond this evening.
I'll try to take a clearer photo when there's better light.
It's very late for them to be laying, I have been checking the pond regularly recently and this spawn is less than a week old.

Wolfsberg

Serious bit of duckweed there Tallus! Do you find it is benefical or a nuisance? I suppose it gives good protection if you have any fish in there.

tallus

Weirdly enough Wolfsberg, I think it has to be bad for teh spawn as it must cut out the sunlight. I tried getting rid of it but it keeps coming back (the duckweed) I call it f*ckweed!
It hasn't stopped the frogs spawning year in year out tho.
Last year I photographed at least 5 times as much spawn, so I'm hoping to see more.
If I can find the photo's I'll post them.

LisaO

Does anyone know if this is particularly good year for frog spawn. Visited our local country park last weekend and one end of the coarse fishing lake (sunniest end) was just teeming with spawning frogs & resulting spawn! Have never seen so many frogs in the one spot before.

tallus

LisaO: There's a bit less than usual in my pond but I'll be keeping an eye out for more. It's always great to see them breeding like that. Pity you didn't get a photo !

Interceptor

@gypsygirl - when you heated the frogspawn you triggered the tadpoles to emerge and they will develop very quickly if you can stabilise them (food+light+temp). Returning them to the wild will kill most of them as they will have developed too quickly and won't be able to survive the temperature drop. Tadpoles LOVE flaked fish food...

I've got a pond full of frogspawn and they need to develop at the same time as the season warms or they will be exposed to late frosts.

Anyone know how to cut the grass on your lawn and not kill all the frogs hiding in the long grass? I stopped cutting it last year as I couldn't bear killing any more frogs.

'cptr

tallus

Interceptor wrote: »

@gypsygirl - when you heated the frogspawn you triggered the tadpoles to emerge and they will develop very quickly if you can stabilise them (food+light+temp). Returning them to the wild will kill most of them as they will have developed too quickly and won't be able to survive the temperature drop. Tadpoles LOVE flaked fish food...

I've got a pond full of frogspawn and they need to develop at the same time as the season warms or they will be exposed to late frosts.

Anyone know how to cut the grass on your lawn and not kill all the frogs hiding in the long grass? I stopped cutting it last year as I couldn't bear killing any more frogs.

'cptr

Had the same problem myself when using the strimmer I always felt really terrible. Dunno if there's a way around it to be honest.

Run_to_da_hills

I would say the chances of a Garda arresting a kid with a jam jar full of frog spawn would be quite slim, they have better things to be doing.

Can't see anything wrong with removing the stuff from evaporating wheel ruts etc where its chances of survival is slim.

Clare Bear

I brought my nephew to see loads of frog spawn today. He was fascinated by it. Unfortunately the frogs have left the spawn in a little lake that my Dad uses the water from so most of them will be sucked out of it. Nothing we can do about it really, it's a man made lake that was made for farming purposes. And there's nowhere nearby that I can move them to really.

That was one of my favourite things to do every year when I was little, go collect frog spawn and put them in our garden pond. A lot of them grew in to fully grown adult frogs too. Most died to be honest but they would have in the wild too. I don't see any major harm in kids collecting a little bit of frog spawn if they have somewhere good to put them. It's a great learning experience for children and most frog spawn regardless of where they are unfortunately won't make it anyway.

Run_to_da_hills

Clare Bear wrote: »

I brought my nephew to see loads of frog spawn today. He was fascinated by it. Unfortunately the frogs have left the spawn in a little lake that my Dad uses the water from so most of them will be sucked out of it. Nothing we can do about it really, it's a man made lake that was made for farming purposes. And there's nowhere nearby that I can move them to really.

That was one of my favourite things to do every year when I was little, go collect frog spawn and put them in our garden pond. A lot of them grew in to fully grown adult frogs too. Most died to be honest but they would have in the wild too. I don't see any major harm in kids collecting a little bit of frog spawn if they have somewhere good to put them. It's a great learning experience for children and most frog spawn regardless of where they are unfortunately won't make it anyway.

There is heaps of the stuff in the bogs by the wind turbines beyond the resevoir past Kilmailey Post office.

gypsygirl

Interceptor wrote: »

@gypsygirl - when you heated the frogspawn you triggered the tadpoles to emerge and they will develop very quickly if you can stabilise them (food+light+temp). Returning them to the wild will kill most of them as they will have developed too quickly and won't be able to survive the temperature drop. Tadpoles LOVE flaked fish food...

I've got a pond full of frogspawn and they need to develop at the same time as the season warms or they will be exposed to late frosts.

'cptr

I've moved the tadpoles to a larger container now and I put it outside during the day and bring it inside at night in case of frost, (not on the heat mat now tho) They seem to be doing fine and I'm feeding them small amounts of fish food, they aren't really any bigger than the ones in the puddle where I originally got them, I was down there today with the dogs and while lots have hatched, theres still a fair few newer unhatched clumps, (presumably because they were spawned at a later date,) already quite a few of the puddles have started to dry up and I saw several dried out clumps of spawn, the kids in the area come in every couple of days to have a look at the tadders and we've even had a couple of the parents asking about them, two even dropped in to see them, What a way to get to know the neighbours better, :P

artieanna

I have often come across a lump of frogspawn in a small puddle and there is nothing wrong with ploping it into a good pool of water where it may produce many frogs.

I pass by a bog pool every day when I go for a walk and Its amazing to watch them develop. There was a load of frogs spawning this year in the same pool it was so funny when I would pass, all the heads would disappear under the water so I would stand and wait and they would not stick there heads up until I was gone. They probably thought I was going to catch them and eat them..:D:D

shaywest

try and keep the grass as short as possible and trim regulary since i started doing so i havent hit one in years
ps first clump of spawn this morning

tallus

shaywest wrote: »

try and keep the grass as short as possible and trim regulary since i started doing so i havent hit one in years
ps first clump of spawn this morning

Are they usually this late shay ? Mine aren't and the first clump was only last week.

monty_python

tallus wrote: »

Are they usually this late shay ? Mine aren't and the first clump was only last week.

you are meking me jealous guys
i wish i had a garden to make a pond in:o:o

Wolfsberg

Just brought the dog down the fields and found heaps of spawn in a ditch that doesn't dry up until the end of summer. He got rid of the snakes but the frogs still seem to be alive and kicking!:D

shaywest

they are later than usual, probably the weather
im on high ground so every thing happens later than usual
the daffs' are still not out yet