Garden amphibians

Val looks at the frogs, toads and newts in her garden

- Val Bourne

THE Best Beloved is a scientist through and through, and he has an obsession about frogs and toads. Occasionally I try to distract him by saying “Ribbit, ribbit”, but he just ignores me! He’s come up with some interesting information on the differences in the diets of frogs and toads, though, which I’ve found interesting.

The adult common frog (Rana temporaria), described as an unspecialised and opportunistic predator, eats what’s available and consumes all moving objects large enough to be seen and small enough to be swallowed. It only sees moving prey that’s close by, because it has poor eyesight. A static fly within easy striking distance is not visible to a frog, unless the fly moves. Common frogs will also miss an earthworm that’s 10in (25cm) away. However, if one comes within 3in (7.5cm), they will almost certainly see it and take it.

When the stomach contents of common frogs were analysed, beetles, flies and gastropods were found to make up about 60% of their diet, in roughly equal measures. It seems that the common frog helps to keep slugs down in our gardens. One study found slugs in the stomachs of 85% of the frogs sampled.