I've just come upon a field frog...

happyoutscan

Actually Harley the dog did. Half an hour ago I let Harley out and noticed he was sniffing at something, thinking it was cat droppings I called him in and went out to clean it up (he has a recent tendency to sample sheep droppings, didn't want him getting interested in cat droppings too). When I went out it was a small 2 1/4" in length (curled up) frog. I'll assume it's a general field frog. Anyway, I picked it up to put it out in the field but it was so cold and still I assumed it was dead (my better half actually noticed it a couple hours ago and didn't realize it was a frog) although when it warmed up it got some energy back, about 2/3 minutes later.

What I want to know is should I just put it out in the field now even though it's freezing outside or should I keep it in until the morning? I currently have it in a covered box with a 1/4 bowl of water with some turtle food in it and a teacloth in the rest of the area.

If it wasn't so cold and unresponsive when I found it I would have just put it back in the field but my thinking was to keep it in overnight until tomorrow when it's warmer (hopefully) and release it then.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I know very little about them.

mymo

You could try asking in the nature and birdwatching forum, might get more answers.
So far as I know frogs hibernate until things warm up a bit, strange to find one out and about on a chilly day like today.

Mothman

Put it outside preferably in long grass.

Having it in will likely do more harm than good.

I realise your actions are honorable

Staying still is a defensive reaction to a threat. Didn't work in this case

tallus

Unless the water has been distilled you're doing more harm than good. Tap water has too much chlorine and can damage their skin (apparently)
Also, they are native fauna, and as such are suited to our climate so leave outside.

happyoutscan

Frog was released into deep grass this morning, happy out. The bowl of water I left in its box last night was filtered (herself insists on drinking nothing else). The reason I brought the frog in was because it was in the same isolated spot on concrete for a few hours and the dog would have gotten to it.

Discodog

Well done OP. I suspect that the frog was on it's way to spawn. They can easily get caught out if the temperature suddenly drops but they can survive fairly cold temperatures. I have bought several indoors in the past that were literally frozen into blocks of ice in my pond. The critical thing then is that they have to be thawed very slowly