A Frog, a Pond and a Humming Human

This lens is a simple story about a frog who lives in a garden pond - my garden pond. Her name is Froglodite and she is not as shy as you might expect. Perhaps she knows she is safe here. Anyway, this is her story....

Swarovski Baby Frog

Froglodite in Dryworld

....a rustling was heard among the dark leaves.

and Froglodite stuck her little frog nose out from under a lily pad.

....around the little garden frog the lotus blooms were spreading their peaceful message of a Pure Land.

....here she had raised her many tadpoles into fine young froglets.

....froglodite the garden frog felt so safe in Pond World

....she had often wondered about the worlds that lay far beyond.

....strange humming noise grew more and more intriguing.

....Shall I explore the dry planet today?

....So bravely she swam all the way to the edge of the world in search of the humming

....even more bravely she climbed out of the silent pond into the humming dryness

....dry world felt strange on her delicate moist frog skin.

The weed felt prickly and dry!

....she found a moist rock near the pond and listened to the strangely hypnotic humming sounds.

....She saw the human but knew somehow she would be safe.

....and pointed its extra eye towards her and she heard a click. She let the human approach closer. This was the human who fed the Koi so she felt safe!

watched the human with the clicky eye and listened to it hum. She was quite unafraid. Finally, with a plop, the little frog plunged back into Pondworld!

....that her adventure was something to tell all her frog friends!

....she was relieved to be home safely again!

The card is one of our Zazzle designs. In this freezing weather even the fountain freezes but we run it constantly to provide a opportunity for birds to drink and for the pond to oxygenate. We know from experience that frogs do survive this cold, but it is vital to keep the water oxygenated and to prevent build up of toxic gases under ice that will kill fish and hibernating frogs.

The best way is to make holes in the ice with a pan of hot water. Breaking the ice would set up shock waves that will disturb the whole pond and maybe kill the wildlife, pouring on hot water may shock fish. Don't do it!

If running the pump in a small pond, be careful that the weight of ice does not tip it over. It is possible to nearly empty a pond if the fountain waters the surrounding garden instead of recycling clean water! It is also worth remembering that ice takes more space than water and you may be deceived by the level of a frozen garden pond. Topping up could well be necessary! Remove snow whenever possible to enable plants to oxygenate water.

Sadly we lost four frogs this week - discovered sadly when the ice eventually thawed out on our pond. They appear to have got caught in the ice. We could not bury them, so surrounded them with a stone cairn for now. The polar temperatures in Britain have taken their toll. I dearly hope some frogs have survived the freeze, if not it could be bad news for frogs in the UK.

Update on the frogs. It may be that the frogs were only hibernating. We had that from a wildlife expert. It is also possible that the hibernating frogs were rendered unconscious by methane in the water when the ice thawed out.

We found another hibernating frog floating head up in the water two days ago and there was no decay in the frogs under the cairn. We have put the frogs into deep piles of wet leaves and surrounded them with stones near to the pond. If they are alive, they may recover and make their way back into the water. Only time will tell.

If our frogs indeed died, it would be due to a build up of toxic methane under the ice. When a pond ices up, it is possible to safely make ventilation holes by putting a pan full of boiling water on the ice until it burns its way through. You can see that point, because the pan will tip over when it nears the end. You may have to refill it once or twice. Breaking the ice will shock and probably kill your fish. Today's note was that two cairns are now empty. It may be that the frogs have been taken away and eaten by a rat, or perhaps they did survive and returned to the pond. Fingers are crossed here!

Froglodite by persimew

Today we have seen three very live frogs in the pond. two of the cairns we made are empty. The original still has frogs in, and they look dark, so they may be dead, but at least we have some survivors! The moral of the story? Do not give in to friends who wisely shake their heads and tell you to "dispose of" dead frogs that rise after icey periods. They may just be in a very, very deep sleep. You cannot wake them, or see their shallow breaths, but you can build a safe shelter near the pond and hope, like ours, that they will wake and find their way back to the water.

Click on the picture to buy this card....