Question:
When frogs dig in the mud to hibernate for winter, what
happens in spring if there was a dry fall and winter and now another dry
spring and there's no water for them?
Our pond had a lot of frogs last year however over the winter, it has
dried up. What I would like to know is if the frogs died from the lack of
water or just moved on to another place or would they hibernate until the
water came back? I live in Northern Alberta, Canada and any information
you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Replies:
Different species of frogs have different abilities to survive drought and
other harsh conditions, and choose their habitat appropriately. If the pond
normally dries up then the species of frogs that live there will have
hibernated in the mud and come out again when the pond fills up again.
However if the drying was an unusual thing then frogs that are not so
tolerant of drought might well have died. Some frogs might be able to
migrate short distances to avoid an unusual adverse condition, but most
would probably not be successful. Life is a constant give and take, with
different creatures evolving ways to exploit all available habitats, some
times it works for them, sometimes not.
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