Last updated: 29.11.2023, 11:57 a.m.
By: Joana Lück
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What do you do if you find a frog or a toad in your garden? This is how you should behave.
When it comes to helping animals hibernate, squirrels, hedgehogs or birds come to mind. But what do amphibians like the frog actually do when it's icy outside? Should they possibly be supported?
Cold rigidity as a way of survival
Frogs fall into a state of paralysis in winter. © Wirestock/Imago
Frogs and toads may not look very nice at first glance, but they are still beneficial insects because they eat insects and thus keep the ecosystem in check. They also eat snails that might otherwise attack your vegetable patch.
Frogs and toads are cold-blooded animals, as reported by the German Wildlife Foundation. This means that their body temperature adapts to the outside temperature. If temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius, the animals are motionless.
This is what frogs and toads do in winter:
- Compost heaps, tree roots or wall crevices serve as hiding places and wintering places, especially for toads.
- Pond frogs hibernate on land, while sea frogs often winter at the bottom of the water. They burrow into the mud and are thus protected from predators, as My Beautiful Garden emphasizes.
- Amphibians can absorb oxygen not only through their lungs, but also through their skin. And since their metabolism is slow in winter, they can survive until spring.
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Here's what you can do if you see a frog
If you see a frog or toad in hibernation, it is best not to do anything that could wake the animal. Because once it is awake, it costs more energy, which the frog actually needs to hibernate. It then no longer finds food and thus probably does not make it through the winter. Even if temperatures rise again in winter, the amphibian can wake up. Therefore, they should never put a frog in a location to bring it to the supposed safety of predators.