Narrandera Landcare and Murrumbidgee Landcare were blessed with perfect winter weather for their frog hotel making workshop during the school holidays.
The workshop at the Community Food Garden was very well attended and the tree frogs around Narrandera will have no shortage of accommodation places in the immediate future.
Glenn Currie from Narrandera Landcare said “The interest shown in this workshop was incredible. We could not have asked for better weather on the day nor for more enthusiastic kids.”
The goal of the day was to get the younger generation interested in the environment around them and take some action to care for it.
Glenn said, “When I asked the kids what sound frogs make, they predictably replied with “Ribbet, ribbet”. Then I played some of the different calls frogs in the area make and the kids learnt about Barking Frogs and Pobblebonks. I also played the machine-gun like call of the Peron’s Tree Frog which are the likely ones to use the hotels. A lot of them had heard this one before. It’s the one you’ll find on your screen door or hanging out in your toilet bowl.”
The kids were told about how important frogs are in the food chain and in eco-systems. They are considered an indicator species about the health of an environment. If the number of frogs is decreasing, the eco-system is in danger of collapsing.
Murrumbidgee Landcare’s Nioka Dupond, said “After the kids learnt a bit about frogs, it was great to see their enthusiasm as they got stuck into making their own frog hotels. They used re-purposed containers, adding PVC pipes and gravel to make a home for the frogs. Some added a wetland plant to the container to improve the habitat for frogs.”
Quinn making a frog hotel, Hugh with his frog hotel, Tempe Keating.
Photos: Narrandera Argus
Over 30 frog hotels were constructed and will be placed in backyards around Narrandera. A lot of kids will be eagerly awaiting the spring and summer to see if their hotels get occupied.
Narrandera and Murrumbidgee Landcare received very positive feedback from parents about the workshop and they would like thank Think Water Leeton for the donated materials.
This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 20 July 2023.
