One of my Pacific Tree Frog ponds might be considered a frog bog. It would
be about 12 feet long and six feet wide if it were full of water. Rain
will fill it up once or twice a year if at all. Most of the time it has
about 12 inches of water in the center and gradually slopes to the sides.
The water area in the low state is about 6 feet by 3 feet.

The pond has no liner. I dug about two feet till I found clay and then
about a foot into the clay. The clay holds the water rather well. However
the water wicks up the side of the mud pond and evaporates at a pretty good
rate.

In the rainy cool season the pond doesn't need much water added. Most of
the year it gets a dose of water five times per day from an automated
sprinkler. I tried omce a day but the evaporation rate was too high due to
water creeping up the mud sides. Watering with a sprinkler several times
per day keeps the sides wet and reduces evaporation due to the wicking.
This reduces the amount of water that must be added to the main body of
water. If I add too much water to the main body I fear the chloramine
level would rise excessively.

The pond is strictly mud, it is clear and has no filtration or bubblers.
Mosquitoes are controlled with mosquito dunks. There are stacks of rocks
in it to shade part of the pond and provide cover for the frogs. There is
a group of hyacinths that have rooted in the mud. The adjacent areas are
cultivated as frog habitat...logs, vegetation, rocks and some dampness from
sprinklers.

The frogs seem to like the mud pond...although they seem to like my
preforms too. I rarely see the frogs in the preforms...they mostly hang
out in the rock and log cover adjacent to the preforms. I would guess
there are several hundred frogs hanging out near the ponds.

If I go to the mud frog pond in the evening..just as the sun sets...I can
see the frogs jumping out from their daytime hiding places into the water
and swimming to the edge of the pond. They like to sit about half covered
in water. Then they start to croak.

One of the keys to successful wildlife ponds is gently sloping sides. I
have not noted any wildlife drownings in the mud pond. The preforms with
steep sides have taken the lives of lizards and bees and some kind of
unidentified rodent.

The frogs are in no way captive. They come and go and breed as they
please. The local Pacific Tree Frog poulation seems to be on the increase
if one can judge by the evening chorus.