Building A Frog Habitat in the Pond

One of the reasons I was not sure if i wanted ducks is because I knew they would eat up my tadpoles, reducing the amount of native frogs I have in my pond. Before the ducks ever arrived I had started to build a frog safe place along the edges of the pond - by taking small dead hemlock trees and piling them up. Still though, i have way less frogs then normal because much of what i built was moved, decayed, or gawd knows what during the winter freezes..... and the ducks came in to massacre what was out in the open. I was excited to still see in some of the hemlock habitats i built, tadpoles and a group of frogs all in one space. So i took that spot, and made what was a froggie shack, into a frog multi-plex mansion!

I layered and extended the branches further out into the water, while also extended further out onto the land connected... putting more small branches on top of larger ones. Like building a debris shelter, a skeleton of a home.

The smaller tiny branches, block the ducks from getting under there.... and so they avoid that spot, and ravage the rest of the pond. Now to fix the pond leak.... omgawd!

Xoxoxox

Do Tadpoles Get THIS BiG?!

um, what the hec? I have tadpoles in my pond that are bigger then most frogs!?!! This big honkin' tadpole pictured above is at least 4-5 inches long, and let's just say it's head is huge/wide. And I have seen others like this so big I thought they were funny tailed fish.

See in the picture below, there are some grown normal sized tadpoles in the upper right hand corner, and in the lower left hand corner the dark shadow making a ripple in the water is the giant tadpole! That big one could eat the others for a lite snack!!!
Have ya'll ever seen or heard of these ginormous tadpoles?
xoxox

(Partial) Life Cycle Of The Tadpole

It's cool when nature let's us see the process of conception to birth right through the clear water... unlike a human embryo/fetus which will always have the air of mystery blanketed by a belly- even with our fancy ultra sound.

I have been watching the tadpoles in the pond closely - from being just dots in the bubbles, to when the bubbles began to look melted and the tadpoles kinda poke around in the goo...
And now they have big fat heads, long skinny tails which will soon turn into tiny feet made for hopping! They are able to swim around in their tadpole herd and move from spot to spot freely because all the bubble goop is gone. They wade in the most shallow part of the water still though - I haven't seen anyone stray from the group.
The frogs they will become are really freaking huge... One big guy in the pond is so large that when he jumps into the water the splash is so belly-floppin' hard that the water has hit me in the face from up to five feet away!

Xoxox

Frog Mating Season (tadpoles!)

I tried so hard to sneak up on the spring pond full of mating frogs... i walked quietly and slowly from far away, trying to stop in between each step so I would not be noticed. The frogs were loudly making all their spring time mating calls, which is enough to make me feel warm inside already. From a distance I could see their heads above the water, floating on the surface and singing their love songs - at first it looked like turtles, the way they float with just their nose poking out the water, and these frogs are quite large.
But as soon as I got within 3-4 feet of the tiny pond, they one by one started darting down to the bottom.
This brave one, was the last to go from their relaxed floating, to the unknowable abyss below.
I then noticed right next to the lone ranger, was tadpole eggs already starting their process of life!!! How cool is that?
Like abstract art, or really the mimic of how all life starts... beautiful dots just riding beneath the surface of the water.... I couldnt paint a cooler picture.
XoXo

Tadpoles With Legs

In the words of comedian Eddy Izzard (British cross dresser)... "I've Got Legs!"

xoxo

Natural Meditation: Tadpoles!

Tadpoles are one of those things in nature that will suck me in so strong I can barely pull myself away from staring at them. They are as majestic to view as a fantastic far reaching mountain and rival with the fun of watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid. They gracefully move around by making ripples with their translucent tail - the tail they are growing into to become some big ole' frogs. What makes it even more amazing is to watch this life cycle happen over time- starting from the bubbles they form in, swimming out into the clumps with their siblings, and eventually striking out on their own to fill the night with a soothing chirp.
(They also remind me of miniature Louisiana catfish!)

Tadpoles, take me away! xoxo