The Pool Frog is a small amphibian that is very rarely seen in the wild and it was not altogether clear whether this frog was native to England at all. However, research has shown that it was most likely native to East Anglia where it was formally recorded in the middle of the nineteenth century. Pool Frogs that can be found in garden ponds nowadays have often been introduced to England from other countries. They like to live in ponds which are open to the sun because the water is warmer.

The Pool Frog usually has a greenish brown back with darker round patches of different sizes and it has a distinct yellow line running down the length of its back. The legs are also a greenish brown colour with vertical darker markings. The sides of its body are a yellowy green colour with darker spots. Its eyes stick out high up on its face and they are an orange-yellow colour with large black pupils.

Pool Frogs first start their lives as little black tadpoles which look like tiny fish with long tails and gills. As the tadpoles develop they grow legs and eventually lose their tails. When this happens, they are no longer tadpoles, but tiny frogs. These tiny frogs are called ‘froglets’ and they are able to leave the water to go onto land where they hide in long grass or dense vegetation.