As it has been a dry if somewhat overcast day today I decided to venture out and do a bit of tidying up in the garden which has been sadly neglected over the last few months. I can't describe my sadness when I found not 1 but 4 beautiful but very dead frogs in the pond.
Even in death they look beautiful. I know frogs and toads aren't everyone's idea of pretty but I love all of the wonderful wildlife that is native to this island that is my home. 
I am ashamed to say that although I find delight in spotting creatures of all shapes and sizes when out and about, I am very much ignorant when it comes to much of their habits and life cycles. I can only imagine that these poor fellows got trapped when the pond iced over. I feel an incredible sense of guilt about this. Having acknowledged in one of my very own blog posts not so long ago that the pond had iced over, why didn't I have the sense to go and break the ice? Would it have saved these poor creatures? I don't know. 
All I know is that this poor face will haunt me for a while. Call me strange but I found it very traumatic fishing these guys out and was in tears by the end of it. I decided to bury them together in the garden, and for now have marked the site with one of my fairy toadstools.
Tomorrow I will go out and look for something more fitting for a grave marker. I am resolved now to do more to encourage wildlife to my garden and to also look in to providing a safe environment for them to live in.
2 comments:
We lost a lot of fish this year. I think it was probably due to the the length and severity of the cold spell. It's not something we have had for many years. The boys are just hoping we will have a couple of fish left for the summer
I understand your saddness. Driving home last night I ran over a rabbit. There was nothing I could do. It ran out; I braked and swerved but it changed direction right under my wheels. I felt, feel, wretched that I killed the bunny.
As for the birds, I have several feeders in the garden. We have a cat who is a formidable hunter. I thought I was only baiting the birds for her benefit so I stopped feeding them. She caught just as many as ever. If it makes no difference in that respect, I figure I may as well feed them.
Post a Comment