“My garden is swarming with wild frogs,” Askur Hrafn Hannesson said in an interview with Vísir. The resident of Melás in Garðabær said he and his family first noticed the frogs in 2017, and since then, their numbers have grown significantly.
The story of one person’s garden being populated by frogs wouldn’t be news if it weren’t for the fact that amphibians don’t exist in Iceland — or at least they never did. If snakes are next, we’re out.
“They somehow always seem to survive the winter and come back,” says Askur, visibly baffled how the frogs manage this. It should be noted, however, that frogs are cold-blooded and are able to slow their body functions down to survive winters while borrowing underground or, for some species, underwater. Frogs thrive in places with much harsher winters than Iceland.
According to Askur, the frogs often make their presence known during the summer. He says he has no idea where the frogs come from. “They can hardly be native to this area,” he says.
“Nevertheless, it is incredibly mysterious how they got here,” Askur admits that he and others have speculated about the frogs and their origin. Various theories have been proposed, but none have been confirmed.
The frogs in this Garðabær garden were first reported when they were discovered in 2017.
“This must be the first truly Icelandic breed of frogs,” said Karen Kjartansdóttir, Askur’s mother.
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