Edible Frog, green frog  (Rana esculenta).

They live on the bank of our pond. Green frogs hibernate in the mud at the bottom of ponds or ditches over the winter and wake up in spring, when the weather warms up. In this case in the pond.  
On the third photo a young frog in April.
They eat insects, but also larvae, slugs and worms.
Edible frogs and common frogs deposit their eggs in big lumps. Edible frogs are later (the end of May  to early June) First they eat a lot, when they are waked up.
Distribution: In Europe from the Mediterranean area to Southern Scandinavia. In the Netherlands the population has decreased.   
German: Teichfrosch  French: Grenouille verte  
    

Our Common frogs in 2013. Photo 17-4-2013.

Common Toad (Bufo bufo) 

Family true toads or Bufonidae.You can read more about it on wikipedia. 
I was (11 March. 2007) working  at the compost heap, when I saw the common toad hidden in the heap. I have taken some photos, before the toad disappeared again in the heap. 
During the day you only see them  in the breeding season. Then the many smaller males are waiting for the females (March-April) They always return to the water in which they were born. The male toads also disturb the frogs.
In our neighbourhood males clamber onto the backs of females and they return together to the water. Now there have been constructed special tunnels under the road for these toads.
In the pond appear long strings of two-stranded eggs.
Than the adults leave the pond and hunt in the evening for food (ants, slugs, earthworms).They secrete a toxin, that makes them unpleasant to predators to eat.
The photo with the double string with eggs twisting around the vegetation has been taken on 1 April. The other on 2 April.
The little toad on the photo was born the year before.  

German: Echten Kröten  French: Crapaud commun    

The snails are less aggressive (except the Cornu aspersum) in our garden. The large shell is of a Brown Garden Snail, Common Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum, Helix aspersa) That day, I only saw an empty shell. Strange, for mostly I find them everywhere. Perhaps because the dryness at that moment. This snail eat many young leaves. When conditions become too dry, the snail will retreat into its shell and seal the entrance with a parchment-like barrier known as an epiphragm, just like in the winter. Ten years.
The grove snail or brown-lipped snail (Cepaea nemoralis is closely related to the white-lipped snail (Cepaea hortensis) and shares  the same habitat. The grove snail is larger and has a dark brown lip to its shell in stead of a white lip.  But grove snails are  polymorphic in their shell colour and banding. White, yellow, pink, dark brown. Light and dark bandings. The bandings vary in number. So it is difficult to determine.
Control of Slugs and Snails: On and around the cactuses I use Escar-go. It causes slugs and snails to stop feeding and die within 3 to 6 days. It is not toxic and can be used around pets and wildlife. I no longer plant hostas. If I find gastropods on sensitive plants, I  put them on the compost heap. There they can eat. 
Other sensitive plants in the garden: Bear's Breeches, Spiderwort  (Spiderwort especially at the end of the bloom time), Golden groundsel,  White coneflower  For these plants I use sometimes (but not often) esgar-go. I no longer buy plants such as tagetes (or Marigolds) for the garden. I let as much as possible nature goes its own way.    
Enemies: thrushes, beetles, moles, hedgehogs and mice.
    

  Greenhouse Slug (Ambigolimax valentianus). Family keelback slugs (Limacidae).     

A moist shiny 5.5-8 cm long snail. Light brown with 2-3 dark lines, which are lighter in older snails. Slightly translucent. Eat green leaves and shoots. From Spain it has spread all over the world in the last 100 years. Photo 12-6-2023.
  

  Great grey slug, leopard slug (Limax maximus). Family keelback slugs (Limacidae).  

15 to 20 centimeters long. The color is gray to brown with usually a characteristic dark brown to black striped pattern on the part behind the mantle shield; the mantle shield itself is mottled. The stripes and spots pattern differs per slug and can also be completely absent. It is an omnivore (omnivore). From plants to other slugs. They can live for 2 to 3 years. Then they must overwinter in a frost-free place. Like in our water meter pit. Photo 30-5-2022.
  

  Red slug/Spanish slug (Arion rufus/vulgaris). Family roundback slugs (Arionidae). 

They are very similar. Of these two snails, Arion vulgaris is an exotic. Here it ate our sunflower with some friends. It is the most voracious slug in our garden. Arion rufus is 10-15 centimeters long. sometimes longer. Variable in color,,,. orange, red, brown, green-grey, black. Always a red border around the foot. Head with black lines. Photo 7/28/2022.
  

  Deroceras invadens. Family Agriolimacidae.  

A moist shiny slug up to 3.5 cm long. Grey brown, light to dark brown, sometimes almost black. Shield is often lighter. Eat live or decaying plant parts. Europe, America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. Native to Italy. Photo 13-11-2022.
  

  Garden snail, common garden snail, brown garden snail (Cornu aspersum, syn. Cryptomphalus aspersus, Helix aspersa, Cantareus aspersus). Family Helicidae. 

Resembles the Helix pomatia, which is rare in the Netherlands. Yellow-brown shell with a few wider dark spiral bands, narrower lighter color bands and vertical (often slightly obliquely zigzagging) lighter and/or darker spots. Active in the dark, but also when it rains or has rained. This is the most voracious snail species in our garden. Unfortunately, it likes young leaves. .Seedlings in our greenhouse can be gone after one night if he visited them.
  

  Grove snail, brown-lipped snail or Lemon snail (Cepaea nemoralis). Family Helicidae. ..

Slightly larger than the (yellower and with a white border at the opening) Cepaea hortensis. Usually pink to brown. Zero to five dark brown stripes following the whorls. All kinds of food. Dead leaves, but also living plants such as nettle and buttercup, dead animals such as snails and earthworms. These snails do not cause a nuisance in our garden. Photo 31-3-2021.

This snail I photographed in June. I do not know how it came into the garden.
Because a Succinea putris lives in damp places. E.g. wet meadows and marshes.
This is a young snail. They be almost 2 cm. The name amber snails because the fragile, transparant, amber-colored shell. Photos 13-06-2009. German: Gemeine Bernsteinschnecke  French: Ambrette commune   
 

Like Succinea putris, it occurs in wet biotopes. Here on Yellow Flag in the pond. The two species cannot be distinguished from each other from a photo. Can grow up to 1.5 cm. Photo 26-5-2024.
 

This snail I found under a piece of wood with a number of rounded snails. The shell is 5 to 7 mm. (5 mm in the picture) Similar species are Cochlicopa lubricella and Cochlicopa nitens.
It feeds on plant waste, fungi and sometimes fresh leaves.
Europe, North America. but now also in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Photos 30-10-2010. Small photo: Cochlicopa and a Discus rotundatus. 
  

In the Netherlands this species is not to confuse with other species. Characteristics: Shell pale yellowish brown with red-
brown stripes. The shell is about 6 mm.
The little snails eat vegetable matter and fungi. I find the snails under stones, broken branches especially near the compos heap. 
Photos 30-8-2012. German: Gefleckte Schüsselschnecke, Gefleckte Knopfschnecke
  

  Girdled snail

The shell of this snail varies in color from yellowish white to dark brown.
The shell is approximately 11 mm. Europe. Originally in south-west France up to Slovenia, but now common in many parts (such as the Netherlands). Photo 7-11-2023.
  

The shell of this snail has short hairs. Something you don't often see on shells.
Shell about 6 mm. Europe. Photos 30-11-2011. 

In the Netherlands this species is not to confuse with other species. Characteristics: Shell pale yellowish brown with red-brown stripes. The shell is about 6 mm.
The little snails eat vegetable matter and fungi. I find the snails under stones, broken branches especially near the compos heap. 
Thanks for determination Arjan de Groot en Tello Neckheim. Photos 21-4-2008. 
  

As Oscar got older, he had trouble seeing and later went blind. Yet he still knew his way around the house and in the garden flawlessly when he stayed with us again. Unfortunately he passed away in 2020. Here a some photos on Flickr.