Frog Eggs
Sometimes when you are out on a walk along a road running next to a ditch, you may discover a jelly-like mass attached to a half submerged weed; frog eggs. Depending upon the type of frog that laid the eggs, the shape of the mass may be that of a long string, a sphere shape or just what appears to be a blob. These are indeed frog eggs, and it is best to leave them quite alone where they are. However, if you’d like to watch a fascinating process take place, mark the area and return to it often to check on the status of the frog eggs.
Frog eggs can be found early spring, late spring or during the summer, as different frog species breed at various times through the year. If you are searching for frog eggs in order to use them in a science project or just passively watch them hatch from home, be sure when collecting them to leave some behind. This ensures that the natural process can still take place, and the habitat will continue.
Female frogs lay their eggs, in amounts up to 3,000 depending on the species, near or in water. The male fertilizes the frog eggs immediately after they are deposited. As soon as the eggs touch water, the protective layer surrounding each egg swells. Now that the entire egg mass is connected through the covering, it forms a larger mass that makes it more difficult to be eaten by a predatory fish or bird.
Keep a close watch on your frog eggs, for a lot is happening inside those itty-bitty black dots within the gel. The tiny tadpole is busy developing, feeding off from the yolk inside its egg and growing a tail and organs. After some days (the exact number depends on temperature and type of frog eggs), the tadpole will wriggle out from its egg and the protective covering. It will immediately attach itself to a leaf within the water as it continues to transform and develop a mouth with which to feed.
Some of the frog eggs will not hatch. This is a natural phenomenon and nothing to worry about. As your tadpoles begin to swim around in the habitat you have provided for them, they continue to develop as they go about their daily lives eating and swimming. Some of the plants taken from the original ditch or river would be ideal to place in the container with the tadpoles.
As the frog eggs hatch into tadpoles, and the tadpoles begin their metamorphosis into young frogs, your watch can continue. As the frogs mature, they will mate to begin the cycle all over again. Soon, you may have a fresh batch of frog eggs right in your own habitat!