Many people are interested in questions such as: what do frogs eat in winter? Where and how do frogs hibernate? Our planet is inhabited by several varieties of frogs, these are amphibians, land and water frogs. And all these species have many ways that help them wait out the frost.

Take for example water frog, she begins to prepare for hibernation when the water temperature already becomes 6-9 ° C, and only then the frog burrows into the bottom silt and stays there for the winter, while it breathes exclusively through the skin. Therefore, the question of what frogs eat in winter can be answered as follows: this type of frog sleeps and therefore they do not eat anything.

land frogs

land frogs when autumn comes, they begin to look for suitable places where they can spend the winter, these can be: voids in the ground or minks of rodents; hollows of trees that are located low to the ground; rotten stumps; heaps of foliage; cellars; big stones. When the cold comes, this species of frog tries to hide deeper in the ground, under the leaves, where it has a much better chance not to freeze. These frogs eat only mobile insects, but in winter, since they go into hibernation, like aquatic view frogs, they do not eat anything.

Amphibious frogs winter in shallow water bodies or on land in shelters. Like other species, it goes into hibernation and therefore also on dry rations in winter.

All types of frogs are very useful for all people, because they, for example, destroy harmful insects. But due to the fact that people destroy their habitats, expanding cities, and even catching them for food, for many species this means complete extinction.

Hello, friends!

Today I want to tell you about frogs and toads- full-fledged residents of our gardens and kitchen gardens, which help control the number of pests. If they create acceptable conditions, they will gladly settle in the garden and will be in large quantities eat slugs, caterpillars, insect larvae, earwigs, click beetles, ants, grasshoppers, mosquitoes and other pests living within their reach.
If you do not use pesticides and do not leave inorganic fertilizers on the ground in an undissolved form, do not mow the grass too often at least in some parts of the garden, frogs and toads will be comfortable and they will come to live on your lands. And if there is at least a small reservoir near the site with places convenient for breeding frogs and toads, their help will be provided from early spring.

Not everyone loves these most useful and beautiful (do not be surprised, all creations are perfect) amphibians (amphibians), some are even afraid of them, believing that warts appear from frogs and toads. I declare with full responsibility that this is not true - there is no confirmation of these rumors. Yes, I myself in childhood and more adulthood I took frogs and toads in my hands, but I didn’t have warts. And children begin to be afraid of amphibians, because they are scared by adults who were scared by their parents in childhood.


The benefits of frogs and toads

The beneficial activity of amphibians has been noted in various literature. Eating almost exclusively on animal food, they exterminate insects that harm gardens, vegetable gardens, meadows, fields and forests. The great benefit of amphibians in regulating the number of harmful insects in gardens and orchards has long been noticed. In England, Holland, and Hungary, gardeners from other countries imported toads on purpose and released them into greenhouses and gardens. In the mid-1930s, about 150 individuals of the aga toad were brought to the Hawaiian Islands from the Antilles. There they were bred and released over a million toads on sugarcane plantations. The results were very pleasing. In the USSR, young naturalists released frogs for school. And we don’t need to do anything - do not interfere with the frogs and toads, and they will come themselves. Already in Russia, there are enough reservoirs and wild places for their reproduction and wintering.

Moor frog, grass frog, gray toad, green toad

In Russia, most often they live in gardens and orchards. gray (ordinary - Bufo bufo L.) And green (Bufo viridis Laur.) toads, grass and moor (brown) frogs , south of Moscow meet spadeweed, so named because of the smell, reminiscent of garlic. All of them are sensitive to air humidity in the soil layer. At humidity above 90% lives common frog , it does not tolerate dry air, can live both in the Far North (in water bodies) and in forest-steppe zone near rivers, but does not spread far beyond the Urals. (Rana arvalis Nilsson) is much less sensitive to dry air. The most hardy to dryness and air temperature toads, especially green, which occupies the driest habitats inaccessible to other amphibians, and dies only with the loss of 50% of water from body weight.


Reproduction of frogs and toads

The reproduction of frogs and toads is characterized by internal fertilization (not in all amphibians). Sexually mature individuals gather in reservoirs in spring, mate, after which the females spawn. Masonry occurs near the coast in shallow, unshaded, well-heated places. After some time, depending on the species of individuals and the ambient temperature, tadpoles hatch from the eggs, grow, eat mainly algae that are inaccessible to other vertebrates. From the end of June, and in some places by autumn, the tadpoles turn into frogs, leave the reservoirs and disperse throughout the district, walking up to 60 meters per day. It is very interesting that in the shells of eggs moor frogs contains the substance ranidin, which kills the simplest microorganisms. IN traditional medicine Dried frog roe is used to treat facial erysipelas.

How frogs and toads hibernate

hibernate different types differently. Gray and green toads they burrow into loose earth to a depth of 10-12 cm, overwinter in rodent burrows, pits, under stones, in wall crevices. moor frogs winter on land: in pits covered with leaves, in heaps of leaves and needles, under heaps of branches, in rodent burrows. spadewort burrow into the soil or use rodent burrows, mole passages, or sand martin nests. grass frogs they prefer to winter in peat pits, springs, at the bottom of reservoirs, under high banks, in thickets of vegetation, in flowing reservoirs under stones. Unfortunately, in harsh snowless winters, amphibians often die. Even grass frogs wintering in water die from a lack of atmospheric gases or freezing of the reservoir to the bottom.


Amphibian breath

Amphibians breathe through the lungs and skin. The grass frog receives 33% of oxygen through the skin. The exchange of gases through the skin with the environment in amphibians occurs only through the water film, so the skin is constantly moistened with mucus, which is produced by numerous glands. In the sun, the film on the skin dries up and prevents the loss of moisture. Toads have poisonous glands for protection, which secrete substances with a pungent odor, a very bitter taste, burning and emetic action. After all, they cannot move quickly and run away from the hunter. The poison of the gray and green toads is not dangerous to humans, especially since it is released only with mechanical pressure.

These types of frogs and toads hunt mainly at night, leaving their shelters in the evening. Afternoon grass frogs hide in damp places, clinging to the ground, and spadeweed burrow into . toads, going out in the evening to feed, often bathe in water or dew. Amphibians, more than birds, eat insects with an unpleasant smell and taste and insects with a protective color. If cultivated plantings in gardens and fields are treated with pesticides, frogs and toads, birds die, and pests adapt, become immune to similar poisons and multiply in geometric progression, forcing the use of ever stronger poisons.


In places where a person carefully, wisely treats nature, biocenoses are formed from animals, including frogs and toads, which regulate the number of various pests in the garden and vegetable garden. Yes, there are wormy apples, but the products are environmentally friendly, because the worm will not eat harmful plant. In many places of vast Russia it is customary to burn autumn leaves, grass, branches. But masses and frogs hibernate in them and under them. And after spending the winter, not even in a compost heap, leaves and grass can serve as excellent mulch and part of soil mixtures. Tree branches can be buried in new beds, or even better, process them into wood chips (read) and sprinkle paths on the site, the ground under trees and shrubs, where they will rot and enrich.

Let's take care of the space in which we live together, do not litter and poison! Then we will be healthier too.

I photographed this beautiful green toad on my porch in 2008, you can see the photo in a large size. These toads are very rarely seen.


On suburban area or in the forest, the kid will have amazing acquaintances with the local fauna! The direct and wise questions of children can baffle any adult. Can a toad run? Where do frogs sleep - in water or on land? Why is she moving her tongue? How does a hedgehog remove its supplies from thorns? Let's learn more about the complex and mysterious world our closest neighbors!

2. Frog or toad?

Little animal jumps
“Not a mouth, but a trap.
Fall into a trap
Both a mosquito and a fly.

Have you noticed a frog in your area? Tell your child about these animals. You will have to start with what is most likely in front of you ... a toad. A growing baby may ask: what is the difference between a frog and a toad? Most frogs and toads look alike, but there are appearance and a lot of great lifestyle.

Toads - dry, warty and stocky - are terrestrial animals. They only need water in the spring to lay their eggs. From year to year, toads lay their eggs in their native pond, lake or stream. Having fulfilled their duty, these tailless amphibians (their scientific name) with enviable constancy return to the places from which they came into the water. Toads hibernate in the ground. If there are no water bodies nearby and the object of your research does not strive to escape, you have a toad in front of you. They usually walk slowly, and if they are in a hurry, they make short clumsy jumps. But the cane toad runs fast and knows how to deftly hide, burrowing into the ground. She lives where the soil is loose.

  • Are toads good? A toad, unlike a frog, sits all day under a bush or in a shallow hole, and crawls out to hunt at dusk. How many insects she will destroy before morning - do not count! Toads feed on beetles, mosquitoes, caterpillars, slugs.
  • Frogs are very sensitive, fast and agile. It's hard to catch them. On the ground, they move quickly, jump, pushing off with long and strong legs. Frogs are smooth, wet and graceful. They spend most of their lives in the water. At the slightest danger, the frogs hide at the bottom of the reservoir, burrowing into the silt. There they winter.
  • Why doesn't a frog suffocate without air? Praise the kid for a smart question and tell him that frogs have very large lungs, which they fill with air. When frogs dive into water, air is slowly absorbed into the blood vessels. This allows for a long time be under water.
  • Where do frogs sleep: in water or on land? dry hot night they sit in the water. When the air becomes humid (with evening dew, in the morning or before rain), they crawl out of the water.
  • What does a frog eat? The frog is a great hunter! She can sit patiently in ambush for a long time. Seeing the prey, it jumps sharply, instantly throws out its tongue and swallows the food stuck to it. Most often these are flying insects, spiders and snails.
  • The frog and toad are amphibians. Ask the baby to figure out what “amphibian” means. Maybe the baby will remember some other amphibians (for example, lizards, newts and salamanders - tailed amphibians).

3. Agile lace.

Who is there with a black tape
To the brook glides quickly?
Through the bushes he made his way deftly,
And on a small head (Everyone should know about it)
Yellow spots are visible.

Oh, who slipped out from under your feet so quickly and silently and disappeared behind a stump? Most likely it is! With the sunrise, when the morning fog dissipates, snakes crawl out of their shelters and bask in the sun on a pebble or dark stump. Snakes at the slightest danger quickly disappear.

  • How can you be sure it's a snake and not another snake? If you see two yellow or white spots on the head of a snake - get acquainted, before you is an ordinary one.
  • What is the snake's favorite prey? Frogs. This non-venomous snake also likes to eat newts, small fish, lizards, mice and voles, small birds and large insects.
  • Where does he live? The habitat is determined by the food of the animal. On the banks of a river or pond overgrown with bushes, you can see a mobile and agile snake.

The most observant will be able to follow how silently it slides into the water and swims with its head sticking out. It moves in a gentle curve from side to side and constantly moves its tongue.
Snakes are excellent swimmers, they can stay under water for up to half an hour. Ask the baby to hold his breath, note the time and correlate it with the duration of the snake under water. Language - main body senses of the snake, with its help it already feels the surrounding objects and collects the molecules of odorous substances. Focusing on the smell, it already looks for food in complete darkness. Snakes, like us, sleep at night, and hunt during the day (more often in the first half).

I think it will be interesting for the baby to know that this animal can survive for months without food. When the summer is damp, the weather is rainy, snakes travel - they can be found in fields and meadows, far from water bodies. In the middle of summer, mother snakes lay their eggs in warm, wet place. Sometimes, if you're lucky, when sorting out a compost heap, you can stumble upon thin, as if covered with parchment, eggs of snakes (from 6 to 30 pieces). Mom only lays eggs and no longer cares about the well-being of her offspring. Uzhata, hatched from eggs, have a body length with a tail of 13-15 cm, and adult snakes grow up to 1.5 meters. Take the cord and show what 15 cm is and what is the length of one and a half meters. Invite the baby to measure a one and a half meter "snake" with steps, palms, a real ruler.

This fun activity will teach your child how to measure length using various measures, help develop visual-motor attention, strengthen counting skills, and he will be able to better navigate in space. Rustling, rustling grass, the whip creeps alive. And here is an activity for the development of fantasy and imagination. Take a piece of rope - it will be a snake that can turn into anything. Let the kid make a circle or a triangle out of the lace, “write” the letters “O”, “B”, “C”, “P”, “b”, “M”, etc.

4. Prickly stomp.

Lying under the trees
Pillow with needles.
lay, lay
Yes, she ran.

Hedgehogs are secretive animals. The hedgehog can only be seen in the evening when it goes hunting.

  • What does a hedgehog do during the day? During daylight hours, he sleeps in a secluded place under an old stump, under a pile of brushwood and foliage among shrubs. And with the onset of dusk, he wakes up and goes out to clean food. Every evening, the spiny predator bypasses its territory along a certain route.
  • What does a hedgehog like? Various insects and their larvae, worms, bird eggs and berries, as well as acorns, fallen ripe apples, pears - this is the diet of this ancient insectivore. Tell the kid that hedgehogs exterminate a large number of harmful insects.
  • What to feed a hedgehog? If you are lucky enough to spot a hedgehog near your home, make a good tradition of leaving food for the overnight guest every night. The spiny stomper will feast on cookies, pieces of meat or slices of fruit. After observing for a few days, you will know the exact hour of the hedgehog's visit.

5. Winged miracle or miraculous transformations.

hairy, green,
She hides in the leaves.
Even though there are many legs
Still can't run.

When you see a fluttering butterfly, tell the baby that this light beauty used to be a pot-bellied caterpillar. On nettles, it is easy to meet a colony of black caterpillars, future urticating butterflies or a peacock's eye. Beautiful caterpillars of the swallowtail butterfly live on dill and carrots. They are green with black bands and red dots. Did the kid find the caterpillar? Place it in the jar with the leaf it was sitting on. Put more of these leaves in the new house. Tie the top of the jar with gauze so that the caterpillar can breathe. Now the caterpillar needs to be fed daily. And she eats only fresh leaves. Put a couple of branches in a container of water - so the leaves will stay fresh longer.

I thought: I won’t take my legs,
Courage has limits!
Today I met in the forest
I'm a mixture of goose and titmouse.

After a while, you will lose sight of your pet. Explain to the baby that the caterpillar wrapped itself in a cocoon, turned into a chrysalis. Now it won't be long before the miracle happens. If the caterpillar liked it with you, then soon, instead of the “fatty”, the baby will see a butterfly in the jar. Perhaps it will be very beautiful, or maybe not very. Let the baby not be upset, there are no bad and good in nature - everyone is equally needed. this important thought to the crumbs.And on a clear warm day, let your pet out into the big world together!

When you read or hear about amphibians, it becomes interesting how they endure low temperatures? For example, where do frogs winter? There are many ways to help amphibians survive the cold and stay alive. They are not able to change and regulate their body temperature, but they can adapt to the conditions. environment. The frogs cope with this task perfectly. Each family, genus and species of amphibians has its own set of adaptive changes that help to endure cold, frost, and drought.

Frogs - inhabitants of reservoirs and damp places

The zoological family Real frogs belongs to the order Tailless amphibians, class Amphibians. In rivers, ponds, lakes and swamps in wet meadows, in gardens and orchards, there are several common species belonging to the family Ranidae (Real Frogs), the genus Rana (Frogs):

  • L. lake - R. ridibunda;
  • L. pond -R. lessonae
  • L. moor - R. arvalis;
  • L. herbal - R. temporaria.

To find out how a frog prepares for winter, you need to find out the preferred habitats of the species in other seasons of the year. For reproduction, all amphibians need water bodies where eggs are laid and tadpoles develop.

Features of frog breeding

The mating season for most amphibians begins in February-March and lasts until early June. At this time, male frogs, while in the water, make loud noises. After fertilization, each female is able to lay several thousand eggs. In the form of spherical clusters and ribbons, they float at the bottom or surface of the reservoir. Tadpoles emerge from the eggs in a week. The full development cycle from an egg to a tadpole or an adult takes several months. Some species become sexually mature only in the second or third year of life. The number of eggs laid by one female can be from 1000 to 12000. Most of them die before the appearance of tadpoles. Caviar and young are the prey of many aquatic animals. Where do frogs and tadpoles hibernate? The choice of shelter depends on the behavior of these amphibians.

Frog lifestyle

Aquatic amphibians do not move away from their habitats all year round. Land animals spend almost all their time in swampy areas, near ponds and lakes, in meadows and in river valleys. Sometimes they can be found far from the water - in settlements, park plantings, in the fields. Land frogs go to water bodies mainly during spawning. After it ends, adults leave the ponds and go to places that are most rich in insects and other invertebrate organisms. In summer, some species come out only for night “hunting”. It gets cooler in spring and autumn, so daytime activity increases. What does a frog do on land in winter when the air temperature drops significantly? The cold-blooded amphibian tries to get deeper into the ground, under the leaves, where it is more likely not to freeze.

How does a frog prepare for winter?


Many amphibians that live in the water find ice-free places at the bottom where they can spend the cold season. The largest frogs wintering in water bodies of Europe belong to the species R. ridibunda. The distribution range of the lake frog is extensive - from the Rhine to Iran. The body of the female reaches 17 cm in length, males are 5 cm shorter. Green and brown colors and large black-brown spots predominate in color. A light stripe runs along the back, and a marble pattern is clearly visible on the abdomen. Lake frogs are always in water bodies, even inhabiting deep fast-flowing rivers. What does a frog do in winter? The behavior of a cold-blooded animal depends on the climate of the area and weather conditions. begins to prepare for hibernation at a water temperature of about 6-9 ° C. With further cooling, adults and tadpoles burrow into the bottom silt. At the bottom of lakes, rivers and deep ponds, they spend the whole winter, while breathing through their skin.

Where do land-dwelling frogs winter?

A terrestrial way of life is also led by a moor (marsh). R. temporaria is inferior to R. ridibunda in body size. Its length does not exceed 11 cm, the color is brown on top with dark stripes, the belly is grayish-white. This is one of the most common amphibians in northern and middle lane Eurasia. How does a frog prepare for winter with a land lifestyle? With the onset of autumn cold weather, the search for a secluded place begins. For wintering frogs are suitable:

  • pits with a bunch of foliage;
  • rodent burrows and voids in the ground;
  • rotten stumps;
  • large stones;
  • low-lying hollows of trees;
  • cellars.

How do amphibians from the tree frog or tree frog family (Hylidae) spend the winter?

Tree frogs are small, tailless frogs, usually green in color. They live on trees and shrubs, clinging to the irregularities of the bark with suckers on their paws. At night, tree frogs descend from trees in search of food, but for breeding they prefer to find accumulations of moisture in tree hollows, leaf rosettes. The wintering of tree frogs differs from the wintering of aquatic amphibians. In their way of life, they are more reminiscent of land representatives of the Ranidae family. The most common in central Russia are the following species of the genus Kvakshi: K. ordinary, K. Asia Minor, K. Far East. In the autumn, the treeworts burrow into forest floor, hide in hollows, burrows, under stones. Before the start of wintering, the color of amphibians darkens, more carbohydrates are produced in their body, which protects them from death in cold weather. In spring, tree frogs thaw and go looking for spawning grounds.

Why don't cold-blooded amphibians die from frost?

Where do frogs that live on land and in water disappear for the winter? Land species in autumn try to get deeper into the ground, under the leaves, where there is more chance not to freeze. Some amphibians go into deep hibernation. Before the frogs enter dormant mode, they must find a suitable place to hibernate both on land and in the water. During the cold months, they lie motionless in their shelters, at rest. In sleep mode, all vital processes in the body slow down. The temperature in the winter shelter can drop to minus levels. Trees sometimes remain alive even after freezing. In the role of "antifreeze" are carbohydrates in the blood and urea. Representatives of other families may die from frost. With the onset of the first warm weather at the end of winter and at the beginning of spring, the dormant frogs begin to return to their normal lives.

Importance of wetlands to frogs

For winter shelters, amphibians use bottom silt, driftwood, and clusters of plants. Land frogs in winter temperate zone hibernate, finding secluded places for this. In spring and summer they need water for reproduction. After winter dormancy, when it gets warmer, they head to lakes and ponds. The process of mating, spawning and development of tadpoles takes a long period of time. Many land species mating season begins on the road from wintering places to spawning grounds. Interestingly, females sometimes help males endure the hardships of travel by carrying them on their backs. Frogs spawn in ponds with stagnant water, choosing any suitable places for this purpose: ponds, ditches and puddles. The name of the class "Amphibians" recalls the role of the habitat for this. Many species of amphibians live in lakes, rivers, swamps. They feed on insects that are found in water bodies, they themselves serve as food for larger animals. So frogs are an important part

Adaptive mechanisms of amphibians

Having found out what the frog does in winter, it can be argued that adaptation to environmental conditions is very important for them. Species that live in the northern part of the temperate zone are especially hardy. Significant changes occur in the organisms of wintering amphibian species:

  • increased blood glucose levels;
  • the concentration of urea in the body increases;
  • organ systems slow down or stop working;
  • stops;
  • no breathing;
  • the heart is not beating.

The role of urea in adaptation is highly appreciated by scientists. An increase in its content can act as a "trigger" for the transition to a state of hibernation. Adaptations in the form of deep dormancy are found not only in species living in the forest and steppe zones. Just as frogs hibernate in the temperate zone, tropical amphibians spend the hot and dry season. There are benefits to this lifestyle. Amphibians do not have to spend energy fighting cold or heat.

It is not so important where the frogs winter. Almost all of them, after a state of rest, remain viable and immediately begin to reproduce.