Another dead frog question...

[Nosha123]

Sorry to ride on the back or your post Horselady - but seeing your question reminded me of one I have been meaning to ask here....

A while back in the Summer - we were building a basement in our new house - and before the walls were waterproofed - there was water in there... and frogs.... One of the labourers collected the frogs up into a bucket.. and I gently poured them into the moat at the end of the garden. The water they came from - was just land drainage water... and rain water - not clean by any means! The water they went into was much the same.. but at ground level.

I thought I was being kind and saving them.. they all hopped into the moat and swam away.. and all promptly died!!! Literally.. I saw a few last bubbles come out of them and they all froze, stopped swimming and sank...

WHat on earth did I do wrong?

Poor Froggies!!

[snags]

Have you seen other creatures (fish, bugs etc.) living in the moat?

[Nosha123]

ducks do quite happily.. also saw a snake in the moat... and coots etc.... I did wonder if it was a shock kinda death... as maybe the water in the basement was 'dirtier' than the moats and they hadnt acclimatised....
I felt darn guilty!!!!

[snags]

Maybe the water temperature/PH levels were drastically different...

[Nosha123]

I think the temp would have been more or less the same... but the basement water could have been more acidic or something.. and they had lived there quite happily.. but then I go and interefered by moving them...
Would they ever have adjusted - if I had let them go in the garden and not the moat's water?

there were about 10 in all! Every single one died in seconds!!!

[Sandy-Wroe]

What was the bucket used for before it carried the frogs?
I doubt you have a toxic moat. If you had, and were an MP, you might get it cleaned at our(the publics) expense.

[Nosha123]

ha ha Sandy-Wroe.. very funny!

Bucket was empty... not sure what used for but they were fine when they were being collected up in it and carried down garden.. it was when they went into the moat they all breathed their last little breaths and 'croaked' it

[craft1948]

I think the coots may have been the MP's..........

[snags]

''I felt darn guilty!!!!''

You'll probably go to Hell ;-p

[Nosha123]

***loud gasp and intake of breath*** NO NO I didnt mean it!!! what if I go to hell...
No.... or worse - what if I come back as a frog in the next life!!!!

Actually.. I was hoping someone might know why it happened... guess none of us will be claiming the Professor of all things Amphibious trophy this time around
;-)

[Marijn]

How do you know they died, did you recover their bodies?

[Nosha123]

I didnt.. but one of them didnt sink all the way - and was sort of 'caught' by the leg on a branch.. and he was there for a loooooong time!
Plus he was upside down!!!
Think that might qualify as dead...

[snags]

I'd go with my second reply up there ^... it seems they hit the water and immediately something wasn't right...

You should've whipped up the barbi and 'frog legged' it...

[horselady]

What a nightmare, I feel guilty about my frogs under the ice and I didn't help them enough.

[dothawkes31]

was it maybe just shock due to being brought our o a dark basement into sunlight? maybe they had lived there all their lives and never been exposed to the sun.

[spikeyboy]

A bit late on this but here we go. The chances are that it could have been a multitude of factors...water temp, toxicity of water due to pH or agricultural run off. In fact your second instinct was probably correct. putting them into a shady, damp area of the garden would have been an easier adjustment. Although amphibians like frogs spend time in water they do in fact live most of the time in shady damp spots on dry land and really return to water to breed. It could have well been the dramatic adjustment from a dark cellar to a sunlit garden...frogs have very sensitive skin. Whichever, at least your intentions were good!