I recieved these questions from Helen.

We can hear frogs in our backyard, but we have never been successful in seeing them. I suppose they are burrowing frogs.

How do we spot them?

Would a frog pond encourage them to come out?

This is how I answered Helens questions.

It can be hard to spot frogs sometimes and sometimes the sounds you hear could be other garden friendlies. For years I thought I was hearing a frog calling out of season in my yard but finally discovered it was a burrowing cricket (sandgroper – a very gruesome looking character, I can tell you!)

Try searching at twilight or night time with a torch around your water source (the light reflects from their eyes and stuns them so they are easier to spot). If you don’t have a pond or pool or other water source in your yard already, then it may not be a frog at all.

Frogs usually set them selves up near a suitable water source and then set about attracting a mate to this likely nursery. Some frogs will lay their spawn in wet soil, but these are specialist exotic types.

Happy hunting, Helen!