Viggo on Frogs.

As it is Caturday, I've asked Viggo to explain his fascination with our pond frogs.

Hi fans, Viggo here.

Frogs. Right. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

When I arrived in my house, as a young innocent but feisty lad of approximately 2 months, one of my first exciting experiences was falling into the pond. 

The fish fascinated me, and I thought I could walk on water. The fact that I could not  surprised me, to put it mildly, but that pond has been one of my most treasured spots to visit ever since. 
What attracts me to it, is that is it never dull. There are always fish to watch, and damsel flies, and butterflies, and frogs and toads. And I have this special stone that juts out over the water, so I can drink.

There are many frogs and toads in my garden, and it pleases me to scare them a bit, so that they try to make a run for the pond. They look so silly when they try to jump the box hedge and end up waving their legs about when they are stuck there. I sometimes drag them out ever so carefully, only for them to jump straight back into it. This has given me the conviction that especially the toads are not very intelligent. They can't even jump.
And did you know that they can scream your ears off? Not a pleasant sound at all. I much prefer the song of the mice. They'll sing for their females, very romantic.

Which brings me to the following. The frogs have left. Only yesterday evening it was, they were out there, all 54 of them, frolicking in the pond in the late sunshine and making a hell of a noise doing it.

And when I got up this morning (after spending the night in the laundry basket) and visited the pond....Gone. All of them. Disappeared.

It was such a sad, lonely sight it almost put me off my breakfast. I tested the spawn, just to make absolutely sure, but no...no frogs surfacing to defend their territory.

Now I know from experience that those hoppers are not really gone as in gone forever. They have simply wandered off. And they will revisit the pond from time to time, to see if those tadpoles are doing well. My woman says that J.R.R. Tolkien has written moving words on the subject. Although I'm not quite sure that he was talking about frogs. Still, he could have been.