Exotic Pet and Wildlife Photography Surrey | Marsh Frog

Animal and pet photographers are generally fascinated by all animals, and I thought this frog was rather impressive. Marsh frogs can grow up to 17cm in length, so they’re not hard to spot if you know where to look. These frogs are the largest species in Europe. Their diet comprises insects, earthworms and slugs. They do have enemies, in the form of herons, large toads, and certain fish and mammals. They hibernate over the winter and they can live for up to 10 years.

Apparently these frogs were introduced in the 1930s by a very thoughtful lady who wanted to provide her husband with some tasty frog’s legs – French frogs were unavailable so she got some Hungarian ones instead. These escaped from the garden where she kept them and in a few years they had entirely colonized Romney Marsh and now occupy most water courses, preferring lakes and good sized streams. They feed on insects and occasionally small mammals. Herons, grass snakes and cats are their main predators. They have not been proven as detrimental to other amphibians. I have no idea what these taste like – but I can tell you they’re noisy.

We don’t want these large and strong frogs predating on other amphibian species. In response to that legislation was introduced to limit their distribution. In fact it’s illegal to release a Marsh frog into the wild.