Amphibians

Common European
Frog
Rana temporaria

Size:      Frogs can be anywhere between 6 and 10cm long, with an average size being 8 cm. Females are normally larger than the male.

Location:      Can be found worldwide. In Britain they are widespread.

Habitat:      Outside of the breeding season frogs can be found in fields, gardens and woodland. They breed in puddles, pools, garden ponds, lakes and canals, wherever there are shallow areas.

Further Information :      Can be told apart from Toads by their smooth moist skin. In the winter they hibernate under damp leaves, holes or under logs. Will sometimes bury itself under the mud in ponds. In the Spring from as ealy as January to April, will often travel great distances to breed and spawn in their favourite pond. Frog spawn can be told apart from Toad spawn by its jelly formation.

Can live up to 8 years in the wild.

In the past decade only a third of the British breeding grounds remain. The main cause being development of land.

Common Toad
Bufo bufo

Size:      Toads can be anywhere between 8-15cm long. Females are normally larger than the male.

Location:      Common toads are widespread in mainland Britain, apart from Ireland where they are absent. They can be found over most of Europe, northwest Africa and Asia

Habitat:      Outside of the breeding season they can be found in damp areas of deciduous woodland, scrub, gardens, parks and fields. In the breeding season, they live in ponds, lakes, ditches and slow-moving rivers.

Further Information :      Can be told apart from Frogs by their dry warty-looking skin. Where as Frogs will hop, Toads are more inclined to crawl. In the Spring from the end of March will migrate to their breed grounds to spawn. Their spawn is totally different from Frogs and look like a string of beads.

Will live up to 40 years in the wild.

Great Crested Newt
Triturus cristatus

Size:      Great Crested Newts can grow up to 17cm in length.

Location:      They are widespread in mainland Britain, apart from Ireland where they are absent.They can also be found across northern Europe.

Habitat:     Great Crested Newts spend most of the year around weedy ponds and small lakes, although they can also be found in small pools away from established waterways.

Further Information :     They are mainly nocturnal creatures, hiding on land during the day in burrows or under logs, stones and vegetation. They hibernate between October and late February, usually on land under piles of leaves or logs, or inside hollow tree stumps and stone walls. Like Frogs they will sometimes bury themselves under the mud in ponds. When they reemerge from hibernation they head for their traditional breeding sites, where they can be found in deeper water until nightfall where they move to the shallows to spawn. Unlike Toads and Frogs their eggs are laid under water plants.

Numbers have reduced drastically over recent years, due to the destruction of their habitat. So much so that they are now a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 and the Habitat Regulations Act of 1994. in fact it is illegal to catch, possess or handle great crested newts without a licence and it is also illegal to cause them harm or death, or to disturb their habitat in any way.

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