THERE is an old Spanish saying which goes: No hay senal de llover como el aqua ver caer. Roughly translated it reads: "There is no better sign of rain than to see it falling." Few could argue with such a sentiment, but those to whom such complete certainty is less important may prefer to observe the habits of their local frogs. These amphibians, it seems, often know a thing or two that you or I don't know about the weather.
In years gone by, the frog's prognostic ability was harnessed in what seems a rather cruel way by the country folk of Switzerland and southern Germany. The unfortunate creature was placed in a jar half full of water. It also contained a small branch of a tree that the frog could use as a ladder to climb out of the water when it had the inclination.
A frog thus equipped, according to the experts, anticipates changes in the weather. When conditions are bad, and the frog expects them to remain so, it stays in the water and croaks. As soon as it senses an improvement, however, it edges its way slowly up the ladder.
If a period of fine, bright sunny weather is on the way, our amphibian friend is invariably to be found at the very top of its domain.
This, of course, falls into the "Children, on no account should you attempt this on your own" category of weather forecasting, but there are kinder ways to avail of the amphibians' expertise. "When loudly croak the tenants of the lake," for example, you may be sure that rain is imminent. They also, it seems, become darker in colour: it was a certain sign of rain in olden times if.
The frog has changed his yellow vest
And in a russet coat is dressed.
And those who need a long range weather forecast should spy on the reproductive behaviour of the frogs. When they spawn in the middle of a pond it is a sign of an impending drought but when frogs spawn at the edges of the ponds in spring, obviously having no fears of a water shortage, it is a sure portent of a wet summer.
Some foreign frogs, on the other hand, have more exotic talents. The Rana wittei, or mountain frog, is to be found wallowing in the marshes of the Ethiopian highlands and croaking on Mount Kenya's northern slopes. It seems that this frog will continue to croak as long as the temperature remains above 0 Celsius, but it falls suddenly silent the instant the temperature drops below the freezing point.