It's A Frog's Life

Give slug-eating creatures a helping hand, says Toby

- Toby Buckland

SNEAKING up on male frogs while they sing their croaky serenade from the pond is one of the great sports of spring. It’s not easy, though, because although these amphibious gents have the vocal prowess of Adele, should they sense you’re listening they descend into a silence that makes a fish seem shrill!

Lately, the frogs have been quiet and when I spotted what I first thought was ice in the water I realised why. A closer look revealed that the “slush” was a gelatinous mass of swelling frog spawn.