Spring is sprung ... and the frogs are hopping to it

EVERY year in Ireland we get a phoney spring, says Dick Warner. 

Tradition declares that spring starts on February 1, a more scientific approach by Met Éireann sets the starting date as March 1, but there’s not much happening in the countryside in early March.

There are exceptions. In milder places frogs come out of hibernation in February and even in the cold Midlands they’re usually active by early March. Although they’re cold-blooded animals they have metabolic adaptations to prevent them freezing solid at sub-zero temperatures. The substance involved is chemically very similar to the anti-freeze we put in our cars.