common_nature | A story with legs

When I finished my last post the tadpoles were 3 weeks old and about to go from their nursery tub into the pond. It's actually more of a water feature than a pod - it's a fairly small 2 level fibreglass set up with fake rock texture, a pump and 2 potted water plants that could only vaguely be said to thrive. It also has a predator occasionally drop by.

I thought the tadpoles would struggle to strive in this environment... But they actually did amazing! I put the pond pump in a lingerie washing bag so they wouldn't get sucked in to it, but tadpoles got into the bag the first time I set it up and into the pump. But all came out alive! Even the one I found literally inside the pump mechanism. I got better at creative knots when setting the pump in the bag so there were no more stray guys after that.

The tadpoles grew really fast and seemed to enjoy the more natural environment of the pond.

7 January

I fed them a diet of fish food and random fruit and veg. They are not a fan of zucchini (my Partner agrees with them there) but they love watermelon (as do the pond snails).

7 January

I developed a little afternoon ritual of sitting by the pond at 5pm while the water was war nest and watching them eat. It was very soothing, almost like watching goldfish.

Watch on YouTube

13 January

I feel into a steady rhythm, and so did the tadpoles. They grew, I watched.

23 January

I was enjoying them so much I want to look at a reference book at the local library on tadpoles of southern New South Wales. It was really interesting, especially the tadpole stages.

Plus, I found out I'd misidentified these guys! I'd been telling everyone they were spotted marsh frogs when the book helped me identify them as striped marsh fogs. Sorry l'il dudes. To be fair, the 2 species are very close. So much so there was an illustration of the 2 tadpoles side by side.

Judging by the size (up to 9cm!), the darker colour and the soaked-sultana shape of my tadpoles they're definitely Limnodynastes peronii, the striped marsh frog.

So that was cool. The tadpoles were growing well and were pretty active. I was just starting to look at the next stages of their development when one day I peeked in the pond and saw...

27 January

LEGS.
Tiny little adorable nubbin legs.

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cmcmck

Fascinating!

shirebound

I'm enjoyhing this Epic Pond Adventure so much! I'd be sitting right next to you, watching and rooting them on. You've made such wonderful choices in giving them an environment in which to thrive.

merrileemakes

Awww, thank you! 🐸💜

witchpoetdreamer

Omg they are so cuuute! This must have been an amazing endeavour to watch them grow like that!

bookscorpion

!!! seeing the first tadpole with legs always is such an exciting moment! They are adorable little buys, look at them nomming away

chestnut_pod

I am so invested in these striped marsh frogs! Thank you for keeping us posted :)

yourlibrarian

How fun to watch the development. Sturdy little things to survive the pump!

ranunculus

I had tadpoles in a 100 gal horse water trough last summer. I'm pretty sure they were Pacific Tree Frogs (also known as Pacific Chorus Frogs). The trough had filled with rain water and wasn't really being used. Eventually I needed to move the tank. I very carefully bailed it out, moving tadpoles in multiple life stages. A few tiny froglets crawled out of it during the process. I left the remaining tadpoles in a large tub in the garden. Once a tiny lizard fell in. The tadpoles thought it was quite tasty. Silly me, I thought they would all have morphed into frogs within a few weeks. Months rolled by. There were still a few tadpoles in that tub in late September! I suspect that a frog laid more eggs, but who knows. Finally as, December started, I noticed that the tub was empty of occupants. Maybe this year I'll make a little water feature, one with a place where lizards can drink without falling in.

Oh wow, that's a real frog epic! I'm glad they could all thrive in the tub, snacking on lizard.

full_metal_ox

I'm pretty sure they were Pacific Tree Frogs (also known as Pacific Chorus Frogs).

AKA That Same Damn Frog, as a friend and I came to term the species; regardless of the geographical setting, their “ribbit” call would become a stock Hollywood sound effect, and thus the archetypal frog noise. (See also the bald eagles voice-acted by red-tailed hawks and the kookaburras and peacocks who are contractually obliged to inhabit every Hollywood jungle.)