Leanne Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 on the froggy theme still, i started letting my 9 month old kitten Millie outside only recently, and she has developed a taste for tormenting frogs. over the last few days i have had to rescue a dozen or so from her, ranging from tiny ones who could sit on a coin, to really quite large frogs, one of which had his little arms over his head for protection! and another was squealing which was awful. the problem I have now is she has become wise to my rescue attempts and when she sees me approach she has started picking up her frog and darting off with it. any ideas anyone?(I always get her in before its dark) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 I'm not very fond of cats Leanne so you probably wouldn't like my contributions Give me the frogs any day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Hi Leanne, my advice is get used to it!! I have lost count of the number of things my beasts have brought home. If I can get to it before they do any damage I do but often especially with mice and voles I have to finish it off as they have hurt them then I put them in the bin never give it back to them this may help to discourage them bringing things in. This morning there was guts and fur on the patio another rabbit bites the dust so what chance a frog. Cats seem to behave a little like small children in as much as if they think its naughty they will still do it on the sly. They tend not to bring things into the house when I'm there as they know I'll take it off them but if I'm not there or asleep I often come home to a pile of feathers or get up to find bits of something. It's just the way cats are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Frog squealing is particularly horrible to hear. I could hear a terrible noise coming from the bottom of the garden and when I went to investigate, there was a frog stuck in a corner by the fence and a cat disappearing over the top of the fence. The frog was really squealing and screaming - quite bloodcurdling. I picked it up carefully and took it over to the pond and popped it on a stone. It stayed there for hours, dazed, but eventually hopped in and swam off. Poor chap. I'm sure he survived but I don't want to hear that noise again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanne Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 thanks Kate,Louise and Lesley. Ive always had cats, and have been used to mice and birds being hunted, but never has any of my cats ever gone after frogs! and I am so surprised thats its Millie who is hunting. she is the tiniest little cat, (i call her my fairy-cat) so demure and quiet, yet her brother Finbarr is a strapping great thing for 9 months old, and getting very strong and muscley now. Yet he is content to doze on my sheepskin rug or a lap. and she is out causing chaos! I have put a larger, louder bell on her collar to try to give more warning to prey, it'll be a cow bell soon I think! and I've also never heard a frog cry before, I suppose I must have assumed they were mute apart from croaking, so it was awful to hear its distressed little high pitched scream. another new experience (i've had a lot of those lately!) but one i'm happy not to have again hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 They probably make that noise in India where they prepare frogs for the catering trade by slicing off their legs while still alive I didn't know frogs made a crying noise either. We'll be lucky if we get any frogs from our frogspawn. Lauren asked me to take the cover off the pond so she could 'touch' the frogspawn. Well 'touch' isn't the word I would use. I took a photo of the girls and turned round to find Lauren hauling the frogspawn out 'to get a better look' so I took a photo of her as well. (I have put the photo in my album on page two of the Gallery) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammi J Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Well we have our first lot of frogspawn in our pond this week. When a frog first develops from tadpole to frog it goes away for up to three years. Then when it has reached adult hood and ready to reproduce it returns to the place it grew up. Three years ago hubby made a pond and we took some frog spawn from my mum and dad's pond and this year we have the first lot of frogs back. So far I have seen one big daddy frog who is happy singing each night and giving four different female frogs some loving (Kate-cuddles). And we so far have four large clumps of frogspawn. Yay I love frogs, they are so cute! Sammi -x- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 My two cats play "Frog Tennis" They hardly ever touch the forg just bat the ground near it to make it jump towards the other cat and then the poor thing gets batted back, till I go out and chase the cats off. And yes the screaming is blood curdling, sounds like small children screaming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 That's the noise exactly Trish - thanks for that, I couldn't think how to explain it. I panicked to see a frog hopping in the run with the girls yesterday. It was chucking it down with rain but I ran outside and stood ready to pounce on whichever hen decided to make a meal of it. Instead they both carried on pecking at bits on the ground and let it hop right past them and through the gap in the fence. Maybe they didn't like the taste of the one they picked on that we played tug-o-war with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jangle Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 According to my OH who was working at home yesterday my three ate two frogs yesterday, chasing each other round and round the run in an effort to steal the poor frog and scoff it before the others did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Aaaaaagggghhhhhh!!! Mine haven't as far as I've seen...perhaps they won't like them (?). We have an enormous pond & lots of frogs, so I'm dreading it. I think I'll have a word with them (they don't seem to like slugs (shame)or worms....perhaps they don't like slime!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 I had a newt in my lounge last night - very cute - put it in a glass bowl before releasing it back outside - very cute little feet pressed against the glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen1 Posted March 29, 2005 Author Share Posted March 29, 2005 I think some of my frogspawn has hatched into tadpoles, as I can't see the black bits in the middle of the eggs. Trouble is, I can't see any tadpoles in the pond either Do goldfish eat tadpoles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I'm not certain but I think they do as they will eat the babies of other fish One of mine had babies last year and they didn't survive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Quite possible, Karen but then again, the tadpoles may have migrated under stones and rocks in the pond. They can be very difficult to spot as they're so small. My frogspawn is still very young and has only just got to the comma in the egg stage. They should start moving in a few days and it's lovely to watch the tails wriggling inside the eggs! Hope your tadpoles survive and that they're just hiding . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen1 Posted March 29, 2005 Author Share Posted March 29, 2005 Maybe they are just hiding I've still got lots more frogspawn. Some of it has wriggling tails, and there's a new batch of it that still has little dots inside the eggs. I hope the goldfish don't eat them all - they'd be very fat goldfish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahJo Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 I had a newt in my lounge last night - very cute Where did he come from ..... . Lesley ... on the note of Frogs, cool pics of Lauren and Jake with the frogspawn . We have a water feature .. which the froggies live in in the summer, and before the man at the back of us had a pond .. but filled it in. We used to get baby frogs .. in the grass, as someone else said (Careful with the flymow ), but now it seems just the adults come in the summer/autumn. I personally love them ... Graham does not, and will not hold them incase he gets warts , yes thats toads, I know Luckily .. I used to go and collect tadpoles/slow-worms/grass-snakes etc for primary school show and tell, when I was a nipper, so Ben and Joe are nature lovers whether they like it or not . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 I'm not sure where the newt came from - we do have a water garden witha pond and a little streamlet at the bottom but that's quite a way away from the house ... we reckon one of our cats may have helped him on his journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted April 4, 2005 Share Posted April 4, 2005 Sarah, tell Graham that I've held a toad and I didn't get warts ! Poor Newt if he did have travel assistance from one of your cats, Red! Glad he survived the experience. They're cute, aren't they. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicki Posted April 4, 2005 Share Posted April 4, 2005 We are over run with slugs and snails in our garden and hence have loads of frogs, toads and newts. The newts and frogs breed in the pond and when the froglings leave, we have to be VERY careful mowing. The cats will spend ages if they find a frog poking it to make it jump and eventually the frog will play dead or scream - which is blood curdling for such a small animal. Luckily for me the cats don't eat them though. I use nematodes in the spring for the slugs, beer traps and night culls and have just ordered some copper tape to try on the pots. I also use the animal friendly slug pellets but they vanish really quickly in the damp. The catalogue I got my nematodes from is full of interesting things for pest control like ladybirds and lacewings to release but I'm sure if I bought them they would promptly fly over the fence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen1 Posted April 5, 2005 Author Share Posted April 5, 2005 I have loads of tadpoles in my pond! The goldfish didn't eat them after all. I was watching them for ages - they are so cute! Can't wait for them to turn into little frogs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Excellent news! They do like to hide, don't they! Have fun watching the little chaps - they're lovely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen1 Posted April 5, 2005 Author Share Posted April 5, 2005 When can I expect to see little frogs hopping around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Probably July time. My frogspawn is still there and the tadpoles are a lot further behind than some places but we'll see the tadpoles swimming freely in a few weeks time and then they disappear. We usually notice the little baby frogs in the middle of summer sitting on stones and under leaves and they are gorgeous beyond words! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
