Wondering what to feed them, I trawled internet pages that suggested things like boiled lettuce, bread and cucumber. In the end I took the easy route of going to the garden centre and buying some Tadpole Food - yes, it does exist! With that taken care of, our Tadpoles are now massive with long, dangly back legs. I lifted the lid yesterday thinking there was something odd stuck to it on the inside.. it was a tiny, see through froglet - its sticky little feet clinging upside down to the lid! I caught it gently and showed Tot, who was more interested in tipping the whole pot of food in, then took it to the 'nursery' - a section of the pond we have put rocks around to stop the nosey fish. Some of our Tadpoles are now so large we need to keep a close eye on the things. I have visions of opening the lid and a spray of froglets erupt all over the kitchen. Might be fun for the cats, but not me! I think out of all of us at Maison Monkey, I am the most excited about our little frog. I have really happy froggy memories of when my Dad used to do the same tadpole tank at home. Now, Tot loves watching them swim about and pretends to be a tadpole on the floor and garbles long sentences about 'tails' and 'wiggling' - so sweet! It has been a great chance for her to get up close and personal with nature in a fun way. I will definitely be doing it again next year. Brilliant!
fab article i cant find anywhere to comment on the competition page to enter, please enter me my little one would love it @bubbalovesblog ive commented on the two pictures too x
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ReplyDeleteThank you for this lovely post on frogspawn! It brought back fond memories of my own childhood....
When I was little we had a big fish pond in our garden - which had a rockery attached with a fountain on the top so the water rand down into the pond like a stream - this was the 'mountainside' where I used to play with my 'My Little Ponies' lol!!!!
Anyway, one yera, whilst we were out on a picnic in the countryside, we came across some frogspawn in a small wild pond and decided to take some home for our own garden pond. I remember my dad telling putting the jelly form in the pond and we watched as it became weaker and less jelly like each day until eventually tiny little tadpoles began to appear. Then my dad removed them and put them in a separate tank to prevent out fish from eating them!
We then watched as these tadpoles grew bigger and biggers - growing their back legs, then their fron, then watching their tails get shorter and shorter until they resembled tiny little frogs! By then my dad would have placed large stones in the tank so they could climb and we would watch them climb up and hop back in the water all day long! We were fascinated!!!
Then when the frogs were big enough we would say bye bye and my dad would set them free in our garden by the pond. And many of them obviously survived for year after year (and still now - over 30 years later !), frogspawn appears in the pond every Spring and my dad goes through the ame routine of caring for it as he did all those years ago.
In the Summer, if we are sitting my parents are sitting in the conservatory with the windows open they can hear croaking and they can see lots of frogs hopping around the garden and pond. It is amazing that they have stayed so long and obviously love their home.
My dad is always careful cutting the grass in the Spring and Summer as he has often seen a frog sunning itself in his path. I take my kids to see the tadpoles every year and they are as fascinated now as I was. It is so lovely to watch wildlife grow and for children to see this first hand is such a great learning experience for them!!!
Thanks again for the article. I have enjoyed adding my comment!
Please could I ask you to include me into the draw to win your beautiful Arabella Miller Baby Sleepgown and Blanket set. I have six children - Rhys, aged 7, triplets - Callum, Ceiran and Connor, all aged 6, Bethany, aged 5 and Jessica aged 3 months. The set would be ideal for her as she is just a little cutie!!!
I have shared your giveaway on Facebook and Twitter @TracyNixon and I have subscribed to your lovely blog via GFC. My email is tracykarennixon@gmail.com and I will keep my fingers crossed for the lucky dust to blow my way xxx
thankyou, great comment! I agree, its a fab way to relive happy childhood memories and share them with your own children. We've all really enjoyed it and have released 19 froglets so far! :o)
ReplyDeleteWe have a pond in our garden and my 4 year old loves going dipping for tadpoles, she loves watching them grow and does a daily check to see any advancements. I also have a six week old who I must admit slept through the whole pond dipping experience this year, however I know she will enjoy it in years to come.
ReplyDeleteWe were growing a frog in the kitchen a few years ago. It grew 'legs' and jumped out of the container and i guess it de-hydrated and died somewhere. :(
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