Thursday, July 15, 2010

Camouflage


Frogs seem to be finding my pond lately. Every day when I go outside to do the morning count with my coffee, I find another. Yesterday there were ten.

This wee guy is sweating out the heat on a plant container that sits under the water, but just below the surface. He is in the process of changing colour from brown/black (which you can see on his legs) to bright green.

All the frogs in the pond seem to change colour quite quickly depending on where they are basking. They're brown if they're on a brown rock, black if on black planting cloth or the black liner and bright green so they hide easily among the water hyacinth and other plants in the pond. It fascinates me - this adaptability of nature.

And how, I wonder, do they find the pond in the first place? The population has grown from two to ten in a couple of weeks. Do they communicate in some way? Is it smell, sound (I have a tiny waterfall and a pump that sends water into the air, making a pleasing water-falling sound)?

How many will there be when winter approaches? At its peak last year, there were forty-four. Nature truly is amazing.

No comments:

Post a Comment