In case you’ve got a garden and want to make your local frog populations happier, there are some steps you can take. For instance, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) suggests creating a pond with gently sloping sides. Then, allow vegetation to develop around the pond’s edges so that there’s enough damp cover for young amphibians. The charity also invites garden owners to allow their grass to grow longer and to create a compost heap, as well as a log pile. This is where frogs and other amphibians like to live.
Dr. Wilkinson from ARC explained that setting up a garden pond, as well as not using chemicals, is the "single most important thing you can do for garden life." You can still get a lot done for herpetofauna (that's reptiles and amphibians) even if you don't have much space.
"In a small garden, even an upturned dustbin lid or bowl will provide a place for animals to drink," the Regional, Training, and Science Programme Manager at ARC told Bored Panda that even this is enough if we don't have enough space for a compost heap or a log pile. ARC also has a whole bunch of imaginative ideas for creating habitats for frogs, amphibians, and reptiles which you can download right over here, as well as over here for free. (And with one of the handbooks being titled 'Dragons in your Garden,' how can you not be curious about what's inside?)
Dr. Wilkinson warned Bored Panda about the impact that climate change is having in the UK and elsewhere. Warmer winters and ponds that dry up too quickly are real problems.
"Climate change can be a very negative factor for frogs, toads, and newts. Ponds can dry up too quickly, meaning their tadpoles don’t have enough time to develop. Also, warmer winters affect hibernating frogs. They use more energy during hibernation and partially wake up, meaning they are in poorer condition for breeding. This is particularly hard on the females who put a lot of energy into making eggs (spawn)," the expert from ARC explained.
Those of you Pandas currently living in Britain might want to take part in ARC's Garden Dragon Watch (again, what a cool name!), the organization's herpetofauna survey, right over here. "UK folk can record amphibians and reptiles they find in their gardens and it will help us work out how they are doing. Natural habitats are disappearing and becoming fragmented fast—meaning gardens are increasingly important to wildlife!"
At its core, frogposting is about a very simple yet relatable feeling: looking at photos of frogs is… nice. You might dress this fact up a bit, try and find some refined words to describe exactly why this is so, but at the end of the day, frogs are simply nice to look at. Nice to post. And nice to share with your friends. Toads, too! We can’t forget our lumbering, croaking pals either, can we?
Meanwhile, other internet users find looking at photos of frogs to be comforting and, on some level, they even relate to the critters.
In our humble opinion, within the past two years, they’ve become nearly as popular as cats have when it comes to meme potential. Sure, they might not be quite there yet, but they’re on their way. Anecdotally, we can tell you that many of our closest friends are completely obsessed with sharing frog pics on a regular basis (I have 7 people who do that daily and I feel happy that I do).
#11 Pepper Does This When We’re Out Of Crickets. Tonight’s Dinner Was Worms And Her Highness Was Not Pleased
Frogs are cold-blooded, carnivorous, tailless amphibians that make the internet a far better place. The prehistoric ancestor to the modern frog, Ichthyostega, lived 370 million years ago while the earliest known ‘true frogs’ date back to 175 million years ago. Researchers note that there was an explosion in frog populations 66 million years ago, around the time that dinosaurs went massively extinct after an asteroid struck our planet.
#14 The Coolest Photo I Have Ever Taken. The Frog Jumped Right When I Took A Picture
Scientists don’t tend to make distinctions between frogs and toads, unless we’re talking specifically about the Bufonidae family whose members have dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps on their parotoid glands.
Distinguishing between frogs and toads is far more commonplace in popular culture: toads are bigger, squatter, rougher, wartier, and more terrestrial. So an amphibian might technically be a frog but also a toad in our eyes, warts and all.
