Frogs in Scotland are being told to get a room, and for the good of the species, earth-conscious volunteers are helping them. As part of the Action Earth campaign, volunteers have constructed what they describe as an underground beehive to provide a safe place for frogs to mate, since their usual mating location—near ponds or other bodies of water—leaves them vulnerable to predators like foxes and herons.
Guests at the frog hotel, an enclosed, two-tiered space made from wood and recycled materials, are first greeted with a complimentary snack in the compost cafe, where insects and bees abound. They are then led up a ramp into the “sleeping area,” where they can, er, socialize to their hearts’ content, safe from attack and left only in the company of other frogs—up to 20 of them at a time.
Now all they need is a separate hotel for expectant mothers to lay their eggs—perhaps one that’s a little more child-friendly.
Related Content:
Discoblog: Bizarro Animal Sex Story of the Day
80beats: Frogs Get a One-Two Punch From Farm Chemicals
DISCOVER: Are Frogs Hopping Straight Into Extinction?
DISCOVER: Ladies’ Night in Animal Kingdom
Image: Courtesy of National Public Radio



April 22nd, 2009 at 9:37 pm
What a novel idea! I never would have thought frogs would conside using a hotel, but it makes so much sense.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
[...] Content: Discoblog: Charge by the Hour? Scottish Volunteers Build Mating Motel for Frogs Discoblog: Empty Nesters: Pigeons on the Pill See Their Egg-Laying Thwarted Discoblog: [...]