There is something magical about this creature. Ever since a TV program “Catweezle” I have loved these warty looking creatures. Catweezle carried his trusty friend around with him everywhere as together they made magic and had mythical powers. Toads and frogs are widespread through out our country. The natterjack toad is the rarest of the lot, surviving in only a few pockets.

In spring they are all busy mating in the ponds and producing frog and toad. Frog spawn is in a clump and toad spawn in a long line piece of rope.

Only five frogs/toads per two thousand will survive so please leave the spawn alone, these critters are battling against the odds as it is.

All these critters find tadpoles a tasty morsel fish, birds, newts, water shrews, water beetles, and insects so by having frogs you're attracting all of them.

They are all wary of human. An injured frog or toad should be placed in a box with damp leaves or newspaper and brought to you're nearest vet or wildlife rescue Centrex.

They are creature of habit and return to the pond they were born to mate so if you do happen to see them crossing the road to get to their pond give them a helping hand.

Please be extremely careful when you do this it's no good saving a frog and getting run down yourself.

Frogs and toads eat slugs, beetles, woodlice, ants, and bug so they are great to have around to maintain that balance in your garden. Much better than ant powder that will seep into the water table.

They love the warmth and damp of greenhouses and can keep the pesky insects down. During winter frogs can lie dormant in ponds. I would recommend if your pond freezes over that you place a pan of hot water on it to melt a hole. Be careful not to pour boiling water into the pond. I use hot water bottles.

Frogs can also be st rimmed so be careful. They can also get caught in small garden mesh so please make sure any mesh is 4cm squared or larger for your veggies.

Yes, its a red frog with blue eyes!

This frog was recently caught by my son , being a Manchester United Supporter he was really excited as the frog is red.

These are sometimes found in Scotland along with black ones.

We have called him Fletcher after Darren Fletcher.

A few more colours avaliable.

Why not check out your own ponds and send us any unusual coloured frogs for our website. Send us the photo not the frog please.

QUICK FACTS ON FROGS AND TOADS

Common frog, grass frog
Rana temporaria

The common frog can breathe through its skin. This enables it to hibernate for several months beneath piles of mud and decaying leaves underwater.

Life span
In the wild, the common frog can live for up to 8 years.

Statistics
Body length: Can be anywhere between 6 and 10cm, although they are usually 7.5 to 8cm long, with an average weight of 22.7 grams. Females are usually slightly larger than males.

Physical description
Common frogs have a robust body and relatively short hind limbs with webbed toes. Males tend to be slightly smaller and darker than females, and can also be distinguished by the dark bluish-black nuptial pads (swellings) on their first fingers. These pads become more pronounced during the breeding season, helping males to grip on to females during mating. The common frogs' smooth skin varies in colour from grey, olive green and yellow to various shades of brown and is covered with irregular dark blotches. Common frogs have a dark ‘mask' enclosing their eyes and eardrums, and often have barred markings on their limbs and flanks. Their undersides are white or yellow, sometimes orange in females, and are often covered with brown or orange speckles. Completely red or black individuals are occasionally found in Scotland, and some individuals may turn blue during the breeding season. Albino common frogs have been found with yellow skin and red eyes. Common frogs also have the ability to lighten or darken their skin to match their environment. Common frogs have brown eyes with black horizontal pupils, and transparent inner eyelids that protect their eyes while they are underwater.

Habitat
Common frogs are largely terrestrial outside the breeding season, and can be found in meadows, gardens and woodland. They breed in puddles, ponds, lakes and canals, preferring areas of shallow water.

Diet
Common frogs do not feed at all throughout the breeding season, but when they are active they will feed on any moving invertebrates of a suitable size, such as insects, snails, slugs and worms, which they catch with their long, sticky tongues. Adult frogs feed entirely on land, whereas younger frogs will also feed in the water. Tadpoles are herbivorous and feed on algae but become carnivores when they mature into adult frogs.

Behavior
Although common frogs are active both day and night, they tend to be more active at night. During the winter they hibernate in compost heaps, under stones and logs, or underwater beneath piles of mud and decaying leaves.

Reproduction
Common frogs become sexually mature at around three years of age. During February and March they begin to emerge from hibernation and make their way to the breeding grounds. Common frogs have been seen to return annually to the sites where they originally developed from spawn into adult frogs. The males arrive first and attempt to attract a mate by producing a low purring croak. A successful male will wrap his forelimbs around the female in a mating embrace known as 'amplexus'. Each female lays 1000-4000 eggs at a time, which are fertilized by the male as they are released. Frogs can spawn as early as December and as late as April, depending on how warm the weather is.

They prefer to lay their eggs in shallow, still water. Frog spawn is surrounded with a clear jelly-like substance, which swells up in the water to protect the fragile embryos. The spawn floats to the surface in large round clumps so that the sun can warm the eggs. After 30 to 40 days, tadpoles begin to emerge from the jelly-like spawn. The tadpoles feed on the spawn for the first few days until they begin to eat algae. Tadpoles change into frogs through a process called ‘metamorphosis', which takes between 12 and 14 weeks. Both spawn and tadpoles are extremely vulnerable, and many get eaten by predators such as fish, birds and grass snakes.

On average, only 5 out of every 2000 eggs will survive to become adult frogs. When tadpoles hatch they have gills that allow them to breathe underwater. After 9 weeks they have lost their gills and developed lungs, and therefore must swim to the surface to breathe. As they grow, tadpoles begin to feed on insects as well as plants. Hind legs develop between 6 and 9 weeks, and front legs are fully developed after about 11 weeks. The tail begins to be absorbed by the developing tadpole, and by 12 weeks it has practically disappeared, leaving a tiny froglet. At this stage the tadpoles are less dependent on water and will hide in long grass in and around the pond.

Conservation status
The common frog is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981.

Voice
Males emit a low purring croak during the breeding season, but this can only be heard up to 50 meters away because common frogs do not have any vocal sacs.

Notes
Common frogs can breathe through their skin as well as their lungs. Their eyes and nostrils are on top of their heads so they can see and breathe even when most of their body is underwater.

Common toad
Bufo bufo
Common toads secrete an irritant substance from their skin that prevents most predators from eating them. Unfortunately for the toads, a few predators, such as grass snakes and hedgehogs, do not seem to be deterred by this irritant.

Life span
Common toads can live for up to 40 years.

Statistics
Body length: 8-15cm. Males are smaller than females.

Physical description
Common toads have a broad, squat body, with short toes, webbed hind feet and a rounded snout. Their eyes are orange with black horizontal pupils. They are covered in raised warts, particularly on the back and sides. Their skin colour varies according to time of year, area, sex and age.

They can be dark brown, grey, olive, terracotta or sandy coloured, with a grey-white underside, and are sometimes covered in darker markings on their backs. They have two prominent glands behind the eyes, which produce a foul-tasting and irritating secretion. Common toads do not have an external throat sac. Males have thicker forelimbs and shorter fingers than females, and can be easily distinguished by the dark-colored nuptial pads on the inner three fingers of their forelimbs. These pads become more prominent during the breeding season.

Distribution
Common toads are widespread in mainland Britain, but are absent from Ireland. They can be found over most of Europe, northwest Africa and Asia.

Habitat
Common toads inhabit damp areas of deciduous woodland, scrub, gardens, parks and fields. In the breeding season, they live in ponds, lakes, ditches and slow-moving rivers.

Diet
Common toads are opportunistic feeders, catching invertebrates such as insects, larvae, spiders, slugs and worms, on their sticky tongues. Larger toads also prey on slow worms, small grass snakes and harvest mice, which are swallowed alive. Toads can sometimes be seen in the daytime following rainfall, but they are generally nocturnal, being most active on rainy nights.

Behavior
Common toads are solitary, except during the breeding. They excavate a shallow burrow, which they return to after foraging for prey. They are nocturnal and shelter under tree roots, stones and vegetation during the day. They shed their skin regularly, and often eat the sloughed skin. Contrary to popular belief, they tend to walk rather than hop. Common toads hibernate in October, typically under deep leaf litter, logs, timber piles, or in burrows and drainpipes. They will occasionally hibernate in mud at the bottom of a pond, but tend to live away from water except during the breeding season. They emerge from hibernation in spring (late March) and migrate to breeding sites.

Reproduction
Although males usually wait for females at breeding sites, they will sometimes try to ambush them before they reach the water. Males clamber onto the backs of females and hold onto them tightly (a posture known as amplexus), the nuptial pads on their fingers providing extra grip. Over-eager males sometimes grab another male, but the captured male's croak soon informs them of their mistake. Common toads spawn amongst waterweed. The female releases long strings of triple-stranded eggs, which the male on her back fertilizes with sperm. About 600-4000 eggs are laid. These strings become twisted and stretched around waterweed and vegetation so that the eggs settle into two strands. A few days later the adults leave the water. The tadpoles hatch within 10 days and despite being distasteful to most predators, the majority will not reach adulthood. The tadpoles metamorphose into toadlets within 2-3 months - varying according to food availability and water temperature - and leave the water in May. Common toads reach sexual maturity at 4 years of age.

Voice
Only male common toads croak, which can be a useful way of distinguishing males and females, for males will ‘squeak' if picked up. Larger males have deeper croaks then smaller individuals. This difference in pitch enables toads to assess their chances of success before a fight and so avoid battles that they are likely to lose. The male 'release' call (when another male has mistaken it for a female) is the most often heard call, which is a rough, high-pitched quark, qwark, qwark. The mating call is rarely heard.

Notes
As well as having an unpleasant taste, common toads also adopt a defense posture when threatened that makes them appear much larger than usual and so deters predators. They do this by stretching out their legs, inflating their lungs with air, and leaning their heads downwards.