It is easy to tell that summer is finally here with the temperatures being in the 30’s (for my American friends – that is in degrees Celsius…not Fahrenheit) so I figured we would beat the heat and take a nice dip in the pool. Okay, so maybe the Pool Frog isn’t actually found in swimming pools but you never know with a name like that, right? Unfortunately, only our European and Scandinavian readers will be able to confirm this for us. That’s right, the Northern Pool Frog (another name for this amphibian) is found in parts of Britain, Sweden and Norway.
If you are living in Britain then you may have a difficult time finding one of these medium sized frogs since they are considered to be Britain’s rarest amphibian. In fact, it was believed that the Pool Frog had actually gone extinct in their native habitat during the 1990’s. Luckily some re-introduction programs have been working with the Government to get this frog back in its natural environment. So what is it’s natural environment? Swimming pools! Okay, okay…the Northern Pool Frog is actually found in natural ponds in forested areas. Unfortunately, these natural ponds are being in-filled in order for more development to occur. If this keeps up the Northern Pool Frog may actually have to start living in swimming pools.
You ever wonder what the Pool Frog looks like? I figure we better go over this so you are ready….just in case you get to see one of these rare creatures. As I mentioned earlier, they are a medium-sized frog that has a boring brow to brownish-green colour. Although, they do have some black spots so that makes them interesting, right? The main things to look for when trying to identify a Pool Frog is the incredibly pointed head as well as the two lightly coloured “racing” stripes running down the side of their back. Other than that, they are pretty much like any other frog, you know, they have webbed feet, like to swim, eat invertebrates and the other usual frog stuff. Oh and they do an awesome rendition of “It’s Not Easy Being Green” but again that is normal frog behaviour, isn’t it?
Pool Frog Fast Fact – At one point in time, it was thought that the Pool Frog wasn’t actually native to Britain due to the fact that so many similar species had already been introduced to the area. Researchers being the curious folks they are did some studies and found out that the Northern Pool Frog is indeed native to Britain. How long they remain there is a completely different story!
Well that does it for today’s Wild Fact. I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you back here tomorrow!
