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ATTRACTING
AMPHIBIANS
AND
REPTILES
COMMON FROG
(
Rana temporaria
)
Probably the best known of the British
amphibians, The Common Frog can be
found in almost any habitat near suitable
breeding ponds. Garden ponds are
extremely important for Common Frogs.
Adult frogs can grow up to 9 cm long.
They are usually olive-green or brown in
colour, with a dark patch (or ‘mask’) behind
the eyes, but can be yellow orange, red,
green, brown and even blue, with blotches
on their backs,and dark stripes on their
back legs.
Often the first amphibians to be seen in the
new year, spawning from January onwards,
the tadpoles usually take around 3 to 4
months to metamorphose into tiny froglets,
though some overwinter in this larval stage.
‘Mature’ frog tadpoles can be readily
distinguished from toad tadpoles by their
faintly speckled gold/brown colouration,
where toadpoles are black. Frogs often
hibernate at the bottom of ponds in soft
mud, so be careful if you clear your pond
out during the winter.
COMMON TOAD
(
Bufo bufo
)
Despite its name, the Common Toad is
no longer as common as it once was,
and toads are now considered an ‘at risk’
species. Toads can be distinguished from
frogs by their drier, and more warty skin,
their very striking coppery eyes, and their
habit of walking, rather than hopping. Both
adults and tadpoles have glands in their
skin containing powerful toxins which deter
predators and are unpleasant to fish.
As a result they are able to live undisturbed
in fish ponds.
Toads usually only congregate in early
spring for a week or so to breed, and
then move away from ponds to resume a
solitary lifestyle. Toadspawn is laid in strings
or ropes (not clumps), the tadpoles taking
around 3 months to metamorphose
into adults.
Common toads are most active at night
when they hunt their favourite foods,
including snails, slugs, ants and spiders,
and may remain in your garden for long
periods over the summer. However, as
temperatures drop in the autumn, they will
start to look for somewhere to hibernate.
You can encourage toads to stay in your
garden by providing suitable hibernation
structures such as a log pile, rubble piles, or
man made structures like an old flower pot.
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