Tadpoles

[Aardvark]

Ok I'll be the first to admit that I dont know very much about tadpoles.
I know that once hatched they start off with gills and lose these as they devlope proper lungs. Then out pop the back legs followed by the front ones and hay presto you have a froglet, toadlet or newtlet.

Last year we dug a small wildlife pond in our garden. In late March our neighbour scooped some frog spawn from his pond for us to put in our pond.
Nature took its course and pretty soon we had tadpoles swimming about all over the place. By mid July we had little froglets hopping about and tadpoles swimming in the pond. Now in mid September there are still lots of tadpoles swimming around and none of them appear to be in any hurry to grow legs.
I always thought that tadpoles were a spring thing and frogs, toads and newts all layed their eggs in March.

Does anyone else still have tadpoles in their pond?
Do tadpoles ever over winter to develope fully the following year?

 

[Kookamoor]

What a bizarre topic!! Very cool, though!

I'm not sure what country you're from, Aardvark, but in Australia we have tadpoles year round.

But I assume you mean when a pond freezes... where do the frogs go? I am perplexed! Hibernation? Or can they just put up with extremely cold water... no, hang on - as amphibeans they need land, don't they?

 

[Aardvark]

I'm not sure what country you're from, Aardvark

its the UK

Its just that i've never noticed tadpoles in late summer/ early autumn before but then i've never had a pond before this year. I was just concerned that they may never grow up and that I'd end up with some kind of Peter Pan pond for the lost tadpoles

I think toads and frogs tend to burrow into soft mud over winter I'm even more hazy on newts. I guess they stay out all year in warmer countries

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

no, hang on - as amphibeans they need land, don't they?

Isn't it just that they could live in water /or/ land rather than needing land?

 

[clueless]

I think toads and frogs tend to burrow into soft mud over winter

Yes. We don't have a pond but one of our neighbours has. They get tadpoles and when they grow, they move to our garden. Some of their favourite places to burrow are where they lawn finishes and the paving starts, so they make a hole under the first paving slab. They don't use them only in winter. They like to hide there in a sunny day too, so they don't dry up. Other favourite places are thick, ground covering shrubs, where they sit on the branches and near the roots.

 

[Billy]

I was just concerned that they may never grow up and that I'd end up with some kind of Peter Pan pond for the lost tadpoles

LOL. I actually did laugh aloud when I read this. I can picture it now: a pond full of little tadpoles wearing tights.

I live in Australia like Kookamoor and I always thought that tadpoles were around all year. At least I know that when I was littler and went to catch them I could always find some, no matter the time of year.

 

[novella]

Well, you piqued my curiosity about this, so I went and found out.

Apparently some frogs and salamanders and other small amphibians grow to maturity in one season, but larger frogs--bullfrogs and green frogs, for two--can spend up to two years in the tadpole phase. They survive easily under frozen water. So, don't worry about them, they will be fine! They're just different species than the ones who became frogs this summer.

Now you have to find the one who will become a prince.

 

[Aardvark]

Now you have to find the one who will become a prince

actually I was hoping for a princess

Had a good look at them again today, still no signs of legs but they all look happy swimming about in there

I did find a large toad though, it had climbed up inside a large Hebe that I was cutting down to make way for the soon to be arriving runner ducks