So...why did I start this blog on this particular day? Well, I haven't just set up their pond-let where the tadpoles where spend their early days, it is the same set up as last year. I never took it apart, because I had gotten some snails on ebay that now shared the Tadpond.
No, I am beginning the Tadpong Blog today (tonight) typing while Game of Thrones occupies one half of the screen and the post editor the other because tonight I caught the visiting toads Doing the Do. Bumping uglies. You get the point. I grow a lot of plants, and while stalking around outside hunting slugs to feed to the koi (their favorite) and protecting my lemon balm that gets regularly molested, listening to the frogs calling for mates, I heard squeaking. Recognizing that sound from other years, I inspected the corner of the pond, and saw a smaller toad (the male) clinging to the back of another, larger one (female). If you didn't know, toads reproduce similarly to fish. The female ejects her eggs, unfertilized into water, and the male fertilizes. The male lets the know he is ready by grabbing onto a female and kneading her until she releases her eggs. The was another male calling away a few feet away, and another female (called such by her lack of calling for a mate, squeaking, and larger size), but she was playing hard to get while I was there. I would take pictures of the amplexus (the position of the male on top of the female), but I don't like to disturb them. I expect to have eggs tommorrow, and that I will take MANY pictures of. I will also explain me setup, take pictures of the koi pond and the Tadpond. I might even have two sets of eggs, from the female playing hard to get, she might change her mind later tonight. Oh well, even if I don't have eggs, I will take pictures of the Tadpond tommorrow in the daylight.
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