We had two resident frogs going into last winter and last week we had had two resident frogs that apparently awoke from the dead. Well, almost dead.
Frogs go into suspended animation as the water turns cold. They simply turn off their body systems. They don’t breathe, they don’t move, they just slink down to the bottom of the pond and wait till the longer days and sunshine warms the pond, then they’re back in business. I don’t know what they are eating, if anything, but they have taken up strategic positions on the side of the pond, and they duck out of sight when I walk by.
We had 7 goldfish going into December, and Nancy thought they had all vanished. They were nowhere in sight, but I assured her they had not disappeared into thin air. They just descended to the deepest part of the pond and toughed it out. A few weeks back, we had 6 goldfish up and at ‘em, and they were hungry.
My hunch is that by mid-summer we’ll have more than 6 goldfish as there are several mature fish which will likely breed.
Ponds are fun. I’m glad we have one.