What happens to the late-season tadpoles?

[Mmathis]

During the regular season, the tadpoles have time to morph into little whatevers and hop/leap around the yard before the seasons change. But this year we had some late-season taddies [some frog, some toad, I think]. Then, one day, there were no more to be seen in the pond. Do they die or are they "hibernating" somewhere in the pond?

Now, I did transfer a bunch [mostly frog tadpoles] into the turtle-bog which is a somewhat more protective environment than the open pond. A few of those have already changed, but there are still some that are still taddies, or only partially changed. Some days I see those guys -- they are swimming around and very obvious. Yet some days there is no sign of them. For the ones in the turtle-bog, are they burrowing among the gravel?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Depends on the specie. The majority of frog tadpoles can handle temperatures down to 40F. Others have the ability to 'hibernate' over winter like the Bullfrog that takes 2 years to morph from a tadpole into adult form.

 

[bagsmom]

I can't wait to have amphibians in the yard again! We always had the most interesting salamanders -- black with metallic gold flecks. This drought year has been nice for the reptiles -- not so nice for the frogs and salamanders.
I'm guessing your tadpoles are ok somewhere. I've seen some really fascinating nature shows about how resilient they are!

 

[Mmathis]

Depends on the specie. The majority of frog tadpoles can handle temperatures down to 40F. Others have the ability to 'hibernate' over winter like the Bullfrog that takes 2 years to morph from a tadpole into adult form.

Hmmmm, guessing the frog-poles are either Bronze Frogs or Copes Gray tree frogs. Possibly S. Spotted Leopards (used to have some resident leopards, but haven't seen them in a while), or possibly green tree frogs, though those 1st 2 are the better bet. The toad-poles are probably Fowler's toads. No bullfrogs!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I had Pollywogs (large tadpoles) in the past that took all of two (2) years to morph. Never did find out which specie.

 

[budgenator]

I've had some store bought bull frog tadpoles that wintered over without problems, some of those guys were 6 inches long with two legs and a tail. I always figured that the frogs and toads wouldn't spawn if the tadpole didn't have enough time to develop or couldn’t over-winter in the ponds.