Much as frogs and toads are associated with water, they actually spend most of their lives away from it, preferring cool damp areas such as ditches, long grass and under sheds and compost bins. They are among the earliest of our wild creatures to start their breeding season whereupon they return annually to the same location, preferring still water to rivers. Unfortunately this annual mass migration from late January to March is a dangerous time for them because many become road-death victims in their bid to reach their desired water mass.

Frogs and toads become confused if their pond has been removed

A female frog will lay up to 2000 eggs held together in a gelatinous floating mass called frogspawn, whilst a toad will lay 1000-4000 eggs in a long double stranded ribbon reaching three metres in length, which is wrapped around stems and leaves of water plants. Survival rate of tadpoles is low with only 1 in 1000 frogs reaching maturity, although toads are a bit more successful with around 40 per 1000 surviving.

Garden ponds tend to come and go because different homeowners might not want to keep a water feature. However, because frogs and toads return to the same place each year to breed, they can become confused if their pond has been removed. They will still try to lay their eggs in the same area and can end up spawning in nearby puddles or water containers, which can quickly dry up. In such circumstances the spawn can be carefully put into a bucket and relocated to a safer mass of water.

The eggs begin to hatch after four weeks and the water can become quite dark with many thousands of tadpoles swimming around. By about seven weeks they will have grown their back legs, and by week ten the front legs become visible whilst their tails begin to shrink. At twelve weeks they will have become miniature versions of the adults.

Be careful when cutting lawns during the summer

At this stage the tiny frogs and toads leave the water and begin feeding on slugs, worms and insects, which makes them very beneficial to the garden where they keep pests down. It is worth being careful when cutting lawns during the summer, especially where any grass has been allowed to get quite tall along a fence or hedge, creating an ideal moist habitat for them.

Create an accessible area with dense plant cover

Being nocturnal feeders they spend their days hiding in such moist areas, so one way to encourage them into your garden is to create an accessible area with dense plant cover. Strawberry beds are popular with frogs and toads because the plants produce dense foliage, creating cool moist conditions at ground level, and you also have the benefit of fresh strawberries to enjoy.

Frogs and toads share the same habitat yet they are quite different creatures. Common frogs are yellow-green in colour and have smooth damp feeling skin, whilst toads have dry ‘warty’ skin. Toads are good at camouflaging themselves by varying their skin colour to match their habitat, so can range from pink to brown to grey. Female toads reach 90mm in size so are much larger than the males, which only reach about 60mm.