CHRONICLE & ECHO (Northampton, UK) 12 March 08 Northampton frogs facing new threat
Deadly foreign pond plants are putting frogs' lives at risk and a Northampton amphibian expert is urging people to protect the slippery creatures.
Jules Howard, from wildlife charity Froglife, said predatory foreign pond plants were making waters uninhabitable for frogs and reptiles.
He urged residents not to move frogspawn about to avoid the spread of the plants, and to encourage frogs to move into gardens naturally instead.
He said: "A lot of garden centres in the 1980s and 90s started selling exotic pond plants but they have now got into the wild and basically they grow at such an enormous speed that they block out everything else.
"When people move spawn to a different pond they can take parts of those plants with them, which then colonise the new water."
In the 1980s interest in frogspawn soared, with television programmes and school classes regularly moving spawn into school ponds and back gardens. Mr Howard said that while the charity still wanted to encourage interest in frogs and spawn, it was vital that when the spawn eventually hatched, it was in the same place they were laid.
He added: "Frogs move around anyway but if you move the spawn more than one mile from where they were found it is at a quicker rate than they would move naturally. We are really keen to get across to the public we are not trying to sterilise gardens, but we want people to encourage frogs to move naturally, rather than moving the spawn yourself."
Mr Howard built a pond in his back garden in Hazeldene Road, Links View, 11 months ago and has already found two deposits of frogspawn in that time.
He said: "Within three weeks of setting it up I found my first frog and now there have been frogspawn laid there as well. Frogs can smell out a good place for them, they can smell the plants."
He said that anyone who wanted to encourage frogs needed a pond, but also to have lots of places for the frogs to hide or rest such as under garden sheds, rock gardens and pieces of wood. These areas also encourage worms and bugs for the frogs to eat.
For more information on frogs go to www.froglife.org.
Northampton frogs facing new threat