Frogs on the Blog!

When you get a moment, have a look in the Reception Class for the latest additions to our school. Mrs Maxwell and her class now have a fully functioning 'Frog Creche'! Grateful thanks to Mrs McGill who has donated some tadpoles to the aquarium and Mrs Neill for the frogspawn.

For those of you worried by the recent story in the news about moving frogspawn, we can assure you that we have been in touch with Froglife who issued the press release. This is what they said:

"We released that news article to warn people of the dangers of moving spawn between ponds as this can spread diseases and invasive pond plants but did not intend to stop the rearing tadpoles for educational purposes, for example in a classroom environment. In our view this is an excellent educational tool (not to mention fun to watch!) and as the tadpoles are held in a tank, as long as they are returned to the pond they were found in there is very little risk of spreading anything."

If you'd like to sign up for Froglife's 'Frog-bites', click the link below. Frog-bites are free email bulletins from Froglife, aimed at providing up to the minute information on upcoming events, updates on Froglife’s campaigns, along with further details on the part you can play in helping conserve the UK’s amphibians and reptiles. To sign up visit: www.froglife.org/sign_up.htm

Jump to it... Mrs Maxwell needs your help!

Mrs. Maxwell has asked for some help. If you have any frogspawn in your garden or you know where you can get some, please would you contact either us here at the blog or Mrs. Maxwell at school.

Facts about frogs:

• Frogs travel to ponds in the Spring to breed (around Feb/March depending on the weather)
• Each clump of frogspawn can hold about 2,000 eggs
• Frogspawn can be killed by frost, other animals, drying out or disease
• Frogs have excellent eyesight
• A quarter of a frogs diet is made up of slugs and snails
• Frogs are attracted to water by the smell of algae which is a great food for tadpoles
• Frogs can breathe through their skin when they hibernate at the bottom of a pond
• Frogs eyes stick up so they can see out of the water but remain hidden