GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

07-01-2004, 12:32 AM

wrote:
: On the subject of frogs, This is my 3rd year of having tadpoles &
: frogs in my pond. The first year I had 2 frogs and I found one dead
: in the spring the next year I had 5 frogs in the fall and found none
: in the spring. Are they being ate by the Raccoons? Are they just
: hopping off ? This last spring I bought tadpoles and 4 turned into
: frogs and already I can't find any of them. I heard they dig
: themselves into the mud for the winter. But the pond has a liner so
: are they coming out and digging holes elsewhere and just dying?

Frogs are amphibians - they go on land as well as water!
They need somewhere to shelter rom predators, try this, put large rocks etc
around your pond or other similar cover for them to hide under when they are
threatened, some where out of the hot sun and preferably damp, cool etc.
Pile lots of rocks on top of each other and they will use this as a hideaway
for winter when they are susceptible to frost and cold, you could use logs
or anything else you think will provide shelter, and they will re-spawn
every year in your pond afterwards instead of disappearing.
They like plenty of pond weeds too, so that their spawn/tadpoles are
relatively safe from predation - if you dont want weeds, simply put a roll
of wire mesh in during spawning season and take it out when the tadpoles
have grown front legs.

HTH