A Plague of Frogs

Abstract

THIS afternoon, as I was walking into Lickey Village from King's Norton, I came across innumerable frogs. They lined the hedges and covered the road so thickly that I had to walk on tiptoe. I thus proceeded quite 400 yards, where the phenomenon ended as sharply defined as it had begun. Nowhere else along the road was a frog to be seen. I was particularly astonished, as I knew the nearest water to be the Little Reservoir—quite mile away. The frogs were about ten days old, very small. A cottage stood about 300 yards from the beginning of this swarm. Upon inquiry I ascertained that the frogs had thus congregated since noon on Monday, that they had literally besieged the house, jumping all over the groundfloor rooms, that the garden and its paths were full of them. The present occupants had lived there 4½ years, but had never experienced anything like this. They have sometimes seen a few frogs cross the road in wet weather. They are now occupied with brushing them out of doors. Can any of your readers explain the cause of this extraordinary spectacle?