Do frogs guard their eggs?

[Mucky_Waters]

This is the first year we've had frogs lay eggs in our pond, and frankly I'm tickled pink and quite proud.
I would love to see them all hatch, but with a turtle and some koi in there my first concern was that they'll all get eaten before they ever get enough time to incubate full term.
I actually ended up with two batches of eggs. Several nights ago I saw our smallest frog (who I'm assuming is a male) in a love embrace with one of the two larger frogs (I'm assuming are females), the next morning we found a ball of eggs. I placed that first egg mass in an area surrounded by stones so the fish or turtle couldn't get at it. That evening I found another egg mass, closer to shore. See the picture below. Now for the last couple days, the male frog has been hanging very close to the eggs and staring at them. My guess is he is as proud as I am, or he's guarding them.
What do you think?

 

[addy1]

Proud of them...............lol

Ours drop the eggs and leave. Well leave the eggs, they don't leave the ponds. Some do some hang around for the summer.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

He might be hanging around to eat them once they hatch.

 

[addy1]

@Mucky_Waters those look like toad eggs, look like they are strings of eggs in jelly, rather than a mass of jelly with eggs.

 

[addy1]

He might be hanging around to eat them once they hatch.

poor baby tads!

 

[Faebinder]

Proud of them?!?!?!?!

That's it... I'm gonna go kick a toad around my pond in retaliation for the infestations of frogs you got.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

He might be hanging around to eat them once they hatch.

That's another possibility, but if that's the case he's got a bit of a wait on his hands before he can fill his tummy.
And I fully expect them all to get eaten once they do hatch, a tadpole, or even a small frog, will have virtually no chance of survival in that pond.

@Mucky_Waters those look like toad eggs, look like they are strings of eggs in jelly, rather than a mass of jelly with eggs.

They are definitely frog eggs, we have no toads in there, and the eggs are in a mass, not strings.
The other thing I find amazing is that the egg mass seems to be larger in physical size and weight then the female frogs were, and yet the frogs really didn't seem to have reduced in size that much.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

The other thing I find amazing is that the egg mass seems to be larger in physical size and weight then the female frogs were, and yet the frogs really didn't seem to have reduced in size that much.

The frog(s) that laid that clutch of eggs is (are) long gone. They are only in the water long enough to propagate.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

The frog(s) that laid that clutch of eggs is (are) long gone. They are only in the water long enough to propagate.

Meyer, you obviously don't understand the situation of my pond.
I have exactly three frogs in my pond, I've had the same three frogs for three years, my pond is located in our courtyard which is surrounded by 8 ft walls and tight fitting doors, they can't escape unless we happen to leave one of the courtyard doors open during the night when they sometimes roam the courtyard. I know exactly which frogs laid the eggs, the two bigger frogs (which I can only conclude are females) Not only are the females bigger then the other single male frog, but they have a lighter coloring to them. They definitely are not gone, in fact I fed one of the females this morning. Also these are water frogs, the only time they leave the water is to look for food.
Actually we know these frogs very well as they have been mostly hand fed for the last two years. I'm talking hundreds of crickets and mealworms.
Now it is possible that a tree frog could scale the wall and get into the pond and lay eggs, but that is certainly not what happened here, and if it did it would be even more incredible that those big egg masses came from a tiny tree frog.

 

[addy1]

The edge of the mass just looks like strings then, little eggs lined up in rows. Our frogs lay their eggs in a flat gob of jelly, spread out.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

The edge of the mass just looks like strings then, little eggs lined up in rows. Our frogs lay their eggs in a flat gob of jelly, spread out.View attachment 90236

The eggs on the left of the photo are definitely toad eggs.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

The edge of the mass just looks like strings then, little eggs lined up in rows. Our frogs lay their eggs in a flat gob of jelly, spread out.View attachment 90236

I see what you are referring to Addy, but these are definitely from my frogs. And even though there might be a bit of stringiness to that egg mass, it doesn't have nearly the thread like quality that true toad eggs have.
Although the females still are much larger then the small male frog, they did reduce in size slightly, especially in their abdomen area. So I know they are from my frogs. That and for the other reasons I stated to Meyers.
Puzzling part is they only appear to have reduced in size comparable to what a human woman looks like before and after she's expelled her baby, placenta and amniotic fluid. The only thing is, in this case the resultant egg mass has a larger mass then the mother frog did to begin with.

 

[Mike in Vermont]

I think the frog is confused, too.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

The eggs on the left of the photo are definitely toad eggs.

Well, clearly my frogs are very special then, in that they have the unique ability to lay toad eggs.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Here is another photo of those same eggs from another angle.

Still think the frog eggs up there
look like these toad eggs below?