Sir David Attenborough praises primary teacher’s ‘remarkable’ wildlife photos

The pictures were taken on a class pond dipping trip.

Sir David Attenborough has praised a primary school teacher’s dramatic photos of a grass snake trying to eat a frog.

Kate Fry took pictures of the encounter – in which the frog survived – while on a Year 5 outdoor education trip to a nature reserve in Dorset.

The pupils at The Epiphany School in Bournemouth later sent the photos to Sir David and the children were delighted to receive a handwritten reply from the Planet Earth presenter.

In it, Sir David said they were ‘very lucky’ to have witnessed the encounter and that he was ‘relieved’ to see the frog escape.

He added that Kate’s photos were ‘remarkable’ and asked them to pass on his congratulations to her.

Kate 57, the school’s governance officer, said the schoolchildren were ‘absolutely thrilled’ that Sir David had taken the time to write to them.

She said: ‘He is a very kind man. This is a brilliant school and we try to make the most of being close to a nature reserve.

‘For him to take the time to do a handwritten letter is absolutely brilliant and a thrill for the children. It is so inspiring for them.

‘I’m very proud to get such an accolade from a man who has witnessed so much in the natural world.’

Speaking of the snake attack vs frog drama, she said the class had been pond dipping at Kingfisher Barn in the Stour Valley nature reserve to learn more about rivers and their local habitat.

‘Whilst at the pond the grass snake was spotted several times,’ she explained. ‘It was clearly hunting for a meal.

‘Then I noticed a frog that appeared to rise upright out of the weed. I realised that the snake was beneath it pushing it up out of the water and had one of the frog’s rear legs in its jaw.

‘It was unable to swallow the frog as the leg was jammed within its throat with the other rear leg outside, like putting just one leg in a pair of tight trousers.

‘The snake continued like this for a few minutes then began to pull the frog under the water.

‘There was a bit of thrashing around, then suddenly the frog jumped across the top of the pond weed and away.

‘The snake remained in the pond, initially having its head up and flicking its tongue, trying to find the scent of the frog. It eventually swam to the edge of the pond and into the reeds.

Kate said she’s not keen on snakes but she, along with the pupils and nature reserve staff were all ‘amazed and thrilled’ to see the encounter.

‘We all felt that we had seen something special, although brutal. It is important that children see the whole spectrum of what our natural world contains.

‘This was a marvellous learning experience for the school children, showing them a normally elusive predator hunting for live food. Nature at its finest.’

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