Whilst weeding around our pond in the front yard, I discovered a poor frog who it seems couldn’t climb out of a small pond we have off the main pond. Drowning also appears to have been the fate of a juvenile cane toad I found a few weeks ago. There are now plenty of access routes out of this particular pond! Lesson learnt.
So anyways, I sought the opportunity to photograph the Tusked Frog (Adelotus brevis), paying particular attention to it’s unique identification marks that are used to tell it apart from a small cane toad. Tusked frogs are classified as rare, but they’re often heard and found in backyards providing there is a pond, or water-filled depression.
This little fella is now chillin’ in our freezer (Mum doesn’t yet know) before travelling to the University of the Sunshine Coast for preparation and display for undergraduates to learn from.
Its always sad to see frogs drown in ponds but at least this one will provide an educational resource for others. One group of frogs which is prone to drowning are the Pseudophryne when after heavy rain they march en masse and fall into backyard pools.
I’m trying to convince my family that it would be much better to remove what little lawn we have left and build a big pond but I don’t think the neighbours would appreciate it!