ONE BIG PUZZLE....

[JakeR]

When i went camping this last weekend we went to the usk resevoir. When i was walking along the banks of the resevoir it was full with mating frogs, frogspawn and something more sinister...

There were dozens (they were everywhere) of half frogs. They looked like they had just excreted a football, their insides were all trailing along behind them, and there was a big gaping whole in their rear.

This is my theory...when the females spawn, all the eggs come out and she dies because the spawn has rips her apart. It doesnt matter that she dies because she has fulfilled her purpose. It completely puzzled me

Can anyone enlighten me??

Cheers,

Jake

 

[Kath]

Afraid I don't have a clue on what this might be. But I don't believe there is a species of frog (or toad) where the female has only one reproductive cycle as you suggest.

 

[JakeR]

Thats what puzzled me, but they had all been killed in exactly the same way...and there was a lot of big mounds of spawn that looked a bit big for a little frog!

 

[Gary]

I heard a report on the radio a group of kids were being prosecuted for blowing up frogs somewhere - maybe it was there!

Maybe it was more sinister?!?!?! I dont believe female frogs die laying eggs.

Hope you never drank the water :twisted:

 

[JakeR]

Gary....that could be it, but i cant imagine a bunch of kids walking that far for a bit of mischief. But who knows....

I tried to look it up in a zoology book, but it didnt give me any information...

I saw one very odd one (i actually thought it was a frog feotus [before i realise that would be impossible] )

Jake

 

[Roving Rich]

No, I think they get picked off by birds while "mid sporn" so to speak and the only bit worth eating is the hind legs.
Cheers
Rich

I think that sounds the most likley explanation

 

[MartiniDave]

Hey Rich,

Like the sig, but where did you ever get the idea for it?

Dave

 

[Roving Rich]

:rolmao:
What with all this avatar stuff going on, and i hadn't even got round to putting a signature on ! (cos i couldn't think of anything smart and original or Welsh)
Cheers
Rich

 

[Kath]

I would have thought if it was predators then the injuries would have been more varied.

I do know frog spawn expands quite dramatically once it touches water ... so maybe the frogs all had some kind of deformity and ... :yikes: well, doesn't bare thinking about really!

:shock:

 

[Martyn]

I would have thought if it was predators then the injuries would have been more varied.

Dunno Kath, if there's plenty of food available, they may just be picking the choice cuts. Ever notice how a well fed cat will usually only eat the heads off mice? It may be that the predator has found the guts 'n head of the frogs to be less than savory.

 

[Kath]

Dunno Kath, if there's plenty of food available, they may just be picking the choice cuts. Ever notice how a well fed cat will usually only eat the heads off mice? It may be that the predator has found the guts 'n head of the frogs to be less than savory.

Good point!

Of course we may never know ...

Jake, I did find a form online where you can report unusual amphibian deaths ... http://www.froglife.fsnet.co.uk/FMPform.doc

 

[JakeR]

Kath, i'll fill it in. Im not sure of the bird explaination, there were probably aver a hundred of them dotted about averywhere we went....
Very odd.

(cos i couldn't think of anything smart and original or Welsh)

How about in welsh...Fy nghar arall i yn beic...(my other car is a bicycle).

 

[martin]

Was there a gang of hungry Frenchmen in the area? :-D :yikes:

 

[the naughty boy]

i came across the same thing except it was rabbits...in a nature reserve.there were quite a few rabbits with their rear ends ripped apart.but it turned out to be naughty boys [not me] with lurchers .they grabbed the rabbits after a chase and just shook them v.violently making a bloody mess of the rear end.


not as my older brother thought.....bionic farts.
perhaps they were bionic frogs jakey boy


ducks eat frogspawn dont they...seem like a prime candidate here.

 

[george]

Have a look at this report from Aberdeen. Similar thing?

http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.u...nt&sourceNode=83936&contentPK=9589418


George

 

[JakeR]

It could be, but i remember there being legs on alot of them. It was odd, i whole load of spawn and then the frogs entrails. :shock:

not as my older brother thought.....bionic farts.
perhaps they were bionic frogs jakey boy

Thats what i thought, but then i thought if i say that in my present company i would have been mocked!

There must have been helluva lot of hungry frenchmen...but they missed the legs.

 

[Justin Time]

My first thoughts were that it's a bit late for spawning for both frogs and toads.

I checked in " Animal Tracks and Signs" and it notes that

"the polecat is a keen hunter of amphibians, and at it's feeding sites in damp areas and lakeshores you can find remains of frogs and toads. Toad's heads are often left behind - probably because they contain large poison glands - and as they are killed with a ite to the head, the marks of the polecat's teeth can be seen on it"

Mid-Wales is one of the UK strongholds of Polecats so that's a possibility although the descriptin above doesn't sound quite like yours. Could you tell whether the spawn was fresh or developing and was it frog or toad? It could ofc ource be con-indicental that the frogs/toads were in the water where their spawn was, spawning could have happened some time ago. Explosive spawning is not a likelihood I think :roll:

 

[Kath]

What is a polecat? I always thought they were North American...

 

[JakeR]

There was alot of undeveloped spawn and alot of mating frogs (i think). And of course alot of these maimed frogs.

I dont think it was due to a polecat.

Cheers,

Jake

 

[Raz]

Polecat is basicaly a ferret