Another instalment in our great spawn-tadpole-frog Tiny Revolution from the Highlands. Our nature-connecting ambassador Alis Ballance updates us …
Life is tough, and it’s not just we as humans who face deadly threats. Frogspawn don’t have a high survival rate at the best of times – it is said that out of 2000 eggs only 5 will become frogs!
However, the frogspawn in our garden pond faced a whole new threat in the form of our big and boisterous rescue dog, Snoopy.
It wasn’t that Snoopy set out to scare the frogspawn. It was just that in his enthusiastic pursuit of a butterfly, Snoopy took an enormous and excited leap into the air…. and landed right in the middle of the pond. Now Snoopy has long sharp claws, so unfortunately he punctured the pond-liner and all the water started to run out and away.
Ossian was (rightly) concerned about the frogspawn and he and my husband, Chris, gathered them all up and put them back in their original carry-containers. Then Chris rustled up a second pond-liner, Ossian replenished the water with the garden hose, and we returned the spawn to the pond.
Ossian kept checking up on the frogspawn. I’m happy and relieved to be able to report that the spawn survived their close encounter with Snoopy. Indeed, yesterday they transformed into tadpoles.
refilling the pond 
tadpoles!
Ossian has been considering what to feed the tadpoles, so that they can keep growing. Let us know if you have any suggestions?
And if you’re living in a flat in lockdown and don’t have a garden, look out for butterflies from your balcony or window. Here’s a link to more information about the lifecycle of a Red Admiral butterfly along with ways you can be involved in protecting our butterflies.