Tadpoles

[Arperum 3]

We have some pretty big pond/swimming pool thing(13mx7m) here in our garden, and about 6 or 7 years ago, a frog and a couple toads started to come to it, so there were some tadpoles, after that there were tadpoles every year, every year a bit more, lats year maybe something like a couple thousands.

Now this year, it seems most of these toad that grew up in it were full grown, because this year we have Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of tadpoles... I'm guessing it are about 250thousand, my mom thinks it's about half a million... I'm going to get a couple pics of them later and then post them here so you can also see the masses... I just had to post this. It's just ridiculous how much of them there are. What's that going to be in a couple more years... o_O

Edited April 21, 2010 by Arperum

[gogoblender 3,070]

This is so awesome! You are so lucky Arp to have this happen to you in your pond. Please please PLEASE don't forget to put up some pix!

 

 

gogo

 

p.s. Course...where there's a kazillion froggies, there's gonna be a lot of birds right ?

[Arperum 3]

A(an?) heron comes daily, but that may also be for our couple hunderd fishes ...

First he fled if you waved from inside a room, now you have to send the dog... and once the dog closes in at about 10m then he leaves, not a second earlier...

[gogoblender 3,070]

A heron?

 

 

Really?

 

 

You guys have a real life Heron that comes to your pond?

 

 

gogo

[Arperum 3]

There's loads of these around here, we have a pond and there is a river closeby, and at least two big fishing ponds also, so enough food around here. And still they try to steal MY fish

 

Just come and visit us here one day

 

Here is a picture of our garden last year.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Arperum

[Schot 407]

Tadpoles!

 

I loved watching them as a kid. Along with the toads and frogs of course. There's something just so magical about Tadpoles. The transformation they go through is just fascinating.

[Spunky 16]

Tadpoles? it that what the frogs and toads are called in english when they are yet to be developed into mature beings?

 

The Norwegian word for them is "rumpetroll", guess what's that translates to in english...

[Dragon Brother 619]

lol google translate says that rumpe troll (two separate words) translates into ass witch...

[Spunky 16]

Hehe, strange that troll was translated into witch as the Norwegian word for that is "Heks".

[Scrappy McSlap 6]

Ass witches are awesome! You should totally change the thread title now....

[dreeft 9]

hahahahaha ass witch.

 

You should start a restaurant specialising in frogs legs

[Dragon Brother 619]

Hehe, strange that troll was translated into witch as the Norwegian word for that is "Heks".

 

So what does it actually translate as then spunky?

[Spunky 16]

The right translation would be "ass troll" as troll in Norwegian is written exactly as it is in english.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Ass troll is just as funny...

[chattius 2,527]

The correct german name is Kaulquappe. Local slang sword is Dickkopp ( thick head). Kaul is old german for thick head and quappe means, damn I lack the words, some slimy stuff (quabblig, quabber, schlapprig- german slang). Wasn't there a movie with Robin Williams with a similiar sounding title? Flubber?

 

But our thickheads are less frogs, more from alpine newts. We have fish breeding ponds (from a fishing club) in our surroundings. So we always have some herons, cormorans and common kingfishers preying for the young fish and the thickheads. Sadly most of the nice colourful Kingfishers didn't survive the extremely cold winter, too much ice. I like to watch them preying and then diving.

 

The main enemy for our thickheads in our small 1.50m*2m garden pond is however the larva of the dragonfly and the great diving beetle. The kingfishers learnt not to dive to near to gras, where most of the thickheads are. Currently the pond is covered again with an iron net, because our 2 and a half year old twins explore the area. Our Leonberger dogs are trained to do water rescue, but we want to be on the save side.

 

The german word for witch is Hexe, quite similiar to the norwegian.

Edited April 22, 2010 by chattius

[gogoblender 3,070]

the picture of your gardens is beautiful Arperum, it must be very refreshing, relaxing, unlike toot and horns of cars, grey grime, smoke and litter of cities... though Montreal is still lovely ^^

 

Now...bring on those tadpole pix please sir!

 

 

gogo

[chattius 2,527]

Gogo, I think Geraardsbergen is in Belgium. So probably still a bit too early for big tadpoles? We have just eggs at the moment. We stopped collecting toads just 4 days ago. Collecting: do a plastic barrier so that they can't cross a secondary street and collect them in baskets and bring them to the lakes on the other side. The newts come out of the forest and don't have to cross the street.

 

And for the garden, I wonder if the yellow fields may be rapeseed. The small bushes in rows I can't guess. Sorry that I am curious but my grandparents were farmers And I am even guessing which type of tractor worked the field, I think it is a small one. Smaller than my Porsche, more in the size of my Lamborghini, hmmm...

Edited April 22, 2010 by chattius

[Arperum 3]

pics on there way,I'm currently uploading. Will edit them in this post.

 

Also chattius, the yellow fields are in facts just grassland, the yellow is just a lot of Buttercups, the rows are different kinds of currants (had to look it up what it is in english), gooseberries and to the right a bit of raspberries, peaches are even more to the right

The tractor in use is a Kubota, about a small/big as this one.

 

WARNING: if you click the thumbnails to go to the pics on photobucket, be warned that the smallest pic is 4Mb... I forgot to shrink them...

 

 

I'm going to add a couple more, but first they have to be shrinked in size a bit.

 

Shrinking done, just going to add these full size here, they are only 2-300 kB large.

 

 

 

 

Also found a picture of one of our dog and a couple new born goat lambs from end january.

 

Edited April 22, 2010 by Arperum

[Spunky 16]

Wow, nice!

 

Gonna be lively around your garden when all of those grow up.

[chattius 2,527]

The Kubota is a bit bigger than my Lamborghini but smaller than my Porsche, the ones in my signature. I have no digital camera so I just searched for pictures of my ancient beasts/tractors in the web.

Will have to look, but just 4 days and nightfrost. Don't think we have tadpoles already. Wonder if the nightfrost is because of the vulcano ash. My car was covered with it in morning.

 

Seems you have added some goats to the pictures while I was editing. You seem to have an as big collection of animals as we have.

Edited April 22, 2010 by chattius

[Arperum 3]

The neighbors were looking strange already last year when the small toads left, they wandered over their terrace in swarms... They thought it was whole waves of some grey mass... and now there are even more...

 

And that nightfrost was *cold* We got some over here too... had to drive a 4 km with my bike through the freezing this morning... at the end of april...

[Spunky 16]

You gotta take some pictures when they are grown up too, would be awesome to see

[Arperum 3]

Make sure I don't forget and I'll do it. But if you don't I'm nearly guaranteed to forget >_>

[Spunky 16]

I'll do my best to remind you of it, any idea how long it will take before they change into toads and can leap away?

[chattius 2,527]

Close to 5pm and leaving my fast internet at work:

Speaking about a bike. I have to check our Stufentandem (english?) when I am at home. We plan a bicycle tour at sunday to visit Braunfels castle and the animal park there.