We have a pond full of these at the moment....Have you noticed lots of frogs along the Pure Mile recently? Maybe you're wondering why there are so many squashed on roads. It is probably because our roads cross the frogs’ seasonal migration route to pools and ponds needed for reproduction – a suitable breeding site. They need to keep their skin moist when they are moving so they prefer rainy nights.
Here's a little more information about the Common Frog (Rana temporaria), the only species of frog found in Ireland. They’re listed as an internationally important species and are are protected under the European Union Habitats Directive and by the Irish Wildlife Act.
Their colour varies from a pale green-grey through yellow to a dark olive-coloured brown. There are dark bars across the limbs, and streaks behind and in front of the eyes. The colourful patterns on the frog’s skin help to disguise it from enemies such as rats, herons and hedgehogs. A frog can also make its skin become darker to match its surroundings, which takes about two hours.
They are amphibians which means they can survive in the water and on land. They have big eyes bulging out of the top of their heads so they can keep a sharp lookout for food and danger. Their eyes are highly sensitive to movement. When frogs leap they draw eyes their back into their sockets to protect them from damage. Frogs have an ear drum behind the eyes and their hearing is good. Nostrils in front of the eyes are used by frogs to breathe when they are on land. A frog’s skin is loose on its body and moist. Under the water they breathe through their skin.
Frogs have four fingers and five toes. The webbed feet are like flippers and help the frog to swim away from danger very fast. The frog’s hind legs are very muscular which helps it to swim in the water and leap on land. It hops and jumps rather than walks, and lays spawn in large jelly-like clumps. Each time the frog croaks, the loose skin on his throat expands. Frogs make lots of different sounds, especially in spring during the breeding season when they return to the wetland in which they were born to breed.
They feed on slugs, insects, worms, spiders and similar prey, but do not predate aquatic organisms. In winter frogs hide in frost-free refuges, under tree stumps, in stacks of turf, or in rock piles where they enter torpor until the following spring.
Photo: Isobel O'Duffy 22 February 2021 ... See MoreSee Less
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