WINTER FROGS?

We have just passed the shortest day and jumped right smack into a brand New Year, 2008. Whether you believe Global Warming to be fact or fiction, without a doubt 2007 will go down as "unusual" weather wise, across the entire planet. I don't need to visit with the Penguins or Polar Bears to be aware of this. The evidence of something unusual going on can be seen right here in my own back yard. The first time it happened I thought for sure I must be seeing things. Frogs sitting on rocks by the backyard water pond in December? Perhaps I need to do some serious research about the habits of these critters before going too far on this. Perhaps it's not all that unusual to see frogs sunning themselves at the end of December here in the Northeast. I must admit I don't know a lot about the habits of native frogs. For several years we'd purchased tadpoles at a garden center and watched them become large frogs over the summer. When autumn came they always disappeared and did not re-appear the next year. We assumed they were not suited for our normally harsh winter weather and perished. So we gave up on the idea of ever having any frogs. Then, after two years of having no frogs, five frogs unexpectedly appeared in our water garden setting last summer. We were elated! As the seasons changed we grew apprehensive, wondering how they would handle the winter. They seem to be handling it just fine. Throughout the month of December they have made many appearances. When it gets brutally cold for a few days every now and then, they vanish. Then as it goes snapping back up into the upper forties and fifties, they immediately reappear - basking away in the sun again just like they had throughout the summer. The big difference, however, is that back then there was an abundant food supply available to them. Now there is none and we wonder how long they can continue without it?