Frog Nuisance
Why do frogs select a particular pond for spawning and avoid others ? Do the water and mud contain weed or some special ingredient that makes them particularly suitable for the development of the spawn, tadpole and young frog ? These questions have 'been with me since a friend, Mr. K. Bernard Wake of St. Martin in Guernsey, wrote to say that he has been plagued with frogs for a long time. They have chosen his goldfish pond for spawning, and he believes that some of the frogs hibernate in the mud. He has tried clearing the spawn and burying it in flower-beds, but nothing discourages the breeding frogs, which spoil his enjoyment of his fish. Like many people, he suffers from an acute aversion to frogs, and cannot handle them and is anxious to dis- courage their annual visits. I have suggested that he might drain his pond, put in gravel instead of mud and screen the water with fine-mesh wire; but perhaps someone much better informed on the subject will be able to offer a simpler solution to the problem. Tadpoles and spawn are all very well in a jam-jar, but when the spawn clouds pools in gallons, as I found on a mountain stream last spring, it is not quite so fascinating and certainly not beautiful,
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