Do frogs move around much?

[Tringa]

A few years ago I was walking in NW Scotland and found a frog hopping among the shattered rocks at about 950m on mountain in the Letterewe Forest.

Does anyone know what it would do in the winter?

Frogs in my pond seem to sit out the winter in the mud at the bottom; but the pond never freezes. At the level I found this frog the overnight temperature is well below freezing for many months and in winter the ground freezes and is snow covered.

Do frogs on mountains move down in the winter and back up again in summer?

TIA

Dave

[diggleken]

Hi Dave,
cant answer your points, but have seen common frogs at 1500ft in the pennines, and not near water, but under damp heather!
Froglets move away from the pond en masse over a period of time, and I guess that approach continues until they find a new pond or a food source or a mate etc etc and are 'happy'!
So they may well spread all their lives, whether uphill or not might be irrelevant.
We might well have just found stragglers of this approach.
But I am just guessing, I'm sure others will know some research thats been done on this.
Or not.
Cheers
Ken

[ChrisJB]

Interesting stuff. It reminds me of the frogs I saw spawing in boggy pools atop Whernside and Great Coum in the Yorkshire Dales.

Regards, Chris

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Tringa

A few years ago I was walking in NW Scotland and found a frog hopping among the shattered rocks at about 950m on mountain in the Letterewe Forest.

Does anyone know what it would do in the winter?

Frogs in my pond seem to sit out the winter in the mud at the bottom; but the pond never freezes. At the level I found this frog the overnight temperature is well below freezing for many months and in winter the ground freezes and is snow covered.

Do frogs on mountains move down in the winter and back up again in summer?

I've seen frogs at over 3000ft on the Brairiach plateau in the Caingorms. I don't think they descend in the winter, just hibernate in nooks and crannies in rocks under the snow.

I'm always pleased to see them as they do their bit to keep the midges down.

Jim

[Tringa]

Thanks all

[Mark_b]

Common frogs employ two hibernation strategies during winter, they either hibernate at the bottom of a water body or under cover on land, which ever they ‘choose’ they are trying to avoid the frost. Common frogs can tolerate short periods of below freezing temperatures, but extended periods lead to death.

I haven’t been able to find any research suggesting that this species living at high latitudes migrate lower to avoid the harsher temperatures. I think if they can find a deep enough hole / crevice or deep enough pond then they will stay as close to their breeding pond and terrestrial feeding habitat as possible

Froglets do disperse away to find new breeding ponds, but once a frog has found its breeding pond it tends to stick with it throughout life

Thats just what I've read, hope its of use