That may explain some things...

[jennlk]

I saw an Eastern Brown Snake in the pond yesterday. He was about a foot long, afaict, and the diameter of my thumb. That may explain why the number of tadpoles in the pond has been dropping. I wasn't aware that snakes could hold their breath underwater, but this one sure was. He wriggled under a rock when he saw me, and soon his nose poked above the water on the other side of the rock.