"Frog rain" arrived earlier than in previous years
Environment Agency asks for active support and to refrain from mowing grass at ponds, ponds and lakes
In June and into July, the City of Chemnitz Environmental Agency is expecting this year's "frog rain" events. Therefore, all owners of ponds and direct property residents are urgently requested to strictly avoid mowing grass between 1 June and 15 July on green areas within a distance of approx. 50 metres around the pond.
At the same time, the Environment Agency is calling on people to report "frog rain" events to the Chemnitz Lower Nature Conservation Authority (0371 488-3602; -03).
In early summer, so-called frog rain can occur on bodies of water. This is the time when the fully developed young of mostly grass frogs and common toads leave the water to live on land from then on. Under favourable conditions, thousands of fully developed juveniles can leave the water at once within a few days and initially stay close to the shore and in the immediate vicinity in bushes and in damp and shady places in meadows.
This creates a conflict that affects those who maintain or own green spaces in the vicinity of standing waters: Mowing lawns around ponds, ponds and lakes. As trivial as this may sound, lawn mowers - in all their variations - are highly efficient in destroying an entire generation of amphibians. Due to the suction effect, the young animals, which are only 1.5 to a maximum of 3.5 cm in size, are sucked into the mower unnoticed and thus killed. Survival is impossible.
Development cycle of amphibians
In the development cycle of frog amphibians, a remarkable process takes place in the pond within a few weeks: a larva hatches from the egg. A few days later, the eyes and mouth form - from this point onwards, frog amphibians are referred to as tadpoles. Depending on the temperature, around two to four weeks have passed since the eggs were laid. In the following ten weeks, the animals grow legs and their lungs develop.
The body proportions also become more and more similar to those of the adult frog. The metamorphosis from tadpole to frog or toad is now complete and the young animals are fully developed and ready to go ashore. At this point, the tail of frogs is utilised by their own body until it finally disappears completely. The fully developed young leave the water to live on land.