It seems the frogs this year have been quite exuberant. It must have been a great party because they’ve
left a huge amount of frogspawn.
Unfortunately this new generation of frogs are disadvantaged
right from conception. Not only are
there goldfish shouldering through the weeds trying to eat them, but this year
there is the added menace of a curious cat.
She (or he) is new on the scene; a neighbour’s cat that spends a lot of
time in this garden. Earlier in the year
it was the toilet facilities that attracted her, but now she is fascinated by
the fish and frogs. I thought cats hated
water, but this one doesn’t mind poking her paw into the water, and I have seen
her get her nose wet. This means she has
managed to pull out gobbets of frogspawn onto the side of the pond. Poor little potential tadpoles.
So today I transferred some frogspawn to the other pond.
Although it’s smaller in size there is no overhanging edge that the cat can
peer over, and it’s deeper. I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing. I’m
mixing spawn from different frog populations and maybe I’ve inadvertently introduced
different bacteria or weeds into the small pond. Time will tell I suppose, but hopefully some
lives have been saved.
Just as an aside ... this morning I was in a post-Tesco
slump, but as soon as I picked up the camera it disappeared. Nature – creativity - rescue mission =
elevated mood.
