WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



place but its watery world; suddenly it has 

 begun to crave for dry land. The first showery 

 day or damp evening that occurs after that 

 finds it making its way over the muddy margin, 

 and thence to the shelter of the pond-side reeds 

 and rushes. It is no longer a tadpole but a wee 

 toad or frog about a quarter of an inch in 

 length. Many hundreds lose their lives at this 

 stage, tumbling into the footprints of horses 

 and cattle which, baked hard by the summer 

 sun, have become wells from which such tiny 

 creatures cannot escape. Those that get past 

 the footprints in the mud by the pond have 

 cracks in the ground and other pitfalls to 

 negotiate; but a certain lucky proportion get 

 clear away, and, living on tiny insects, thrive 

 and grow up to become in their turn the parents 

 of countless thousands of tadpoles. 



It is worth mentioning that if tadpoles do 

 not get enough to eat they may, instead of 

 growing up into frogs at once, remain tadpoles 

 throughout the following winter. I knew a 

 case of this happening in a basin in a green- 

 house. The tadpoles being very short of food 

 were not able to grow, and it was the following 

 spring before they became frogs, but this of 

 course is most unusual. 

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