We have an abundance of green frogs. In fact, while we dug the pond
(about 7,000 gallons) frogs gathered around waiting and watching us.
In the spring the sound is intense. There are thousands of fish too.
I have heard someone say that tadpoles are poisonous to fish, but even
if that is true I can afford to lose a few fish. And it is not
uncommon that every time I mow around the pond a frog will jump under
the mower and parts will fly in all directions. Snakes, raccoons, and
birds eat some of the frogs too.


On 15 Nov 2004 22:48:54 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:


It's been too quiet in here.
We need some diversion.

Rule of Rec.Ponds Thumb has basically been - too much frog/toad
spawn, move it to a natural waterway.

I've been googling around and found:
http://www.sfns.org.uk/amphibingarden.htm

and it says
"During spring, a lot of people become concerned when they see their pond
filling up with frogspawn, thinking that it is too much for the pond to cope
with, or that they will be ‘overrun’ with frogs. In fact, there is no such
thing as ‘excess’ spawn. Females lay their eggs (up to 2000 each year) in a
special jelly which gradually swells up on contact with water. Also, in a given
pond, several frogs will often lay their spawn together in one place and it
might appear, to our eyes, that too much has been laid. However, each female
lays a single clump of spawn, and each pond (plus surrounding land areas) can
support a certain number of frogs, largely depending on the quality of the
habitat.* In any case, most spawn and tadpoles perish, so only a tiny fraction
of the eggs you see in spring will naturally survive to become* adult frogs.
Taking spawn away will not have any significant effect on overall frog numbers.
Rather than fruitlessly removing spawn and frogs, it is better to accept that
if you provide good habitat you are effectively inviting lots of frogs."

What do you think?
Has anyone had fish deaths or fish distress from an overabundance of frog
or toad spawn?*

I had a big mass of bullfrog spawn in with goldfish and koi and only saw one
lonely tadpole swimming around subsequent to the spawning. No fish problems, no
mass invasion of bullfrogs.

kathy :-)
3000 gallon pond
800 gallon frog bog
home of the watergardening labradors
zone 7 SE WA state