.....and toads, oh my!

Found a juvenile (at a guess - half
the size of an adult) Gulf Coast toad
sitting on the vegetation at the surface
of my smaller stocktank. I don't know
if it's trolling for fish or discovered
the pond is a great place to catch
insects.

There is a Leopard frog (Rio Grande or
Southern - hard to get a close look) living
in the other fishtank. I lifted a lily pad that
happened to be its "roof" for the day, and
it gave me a very indignant look before
diving for the safer depths.

I have small shubunkin and comets
in both tanks, and haven't noticed the
fish population decreasing.

There are Leopard frogs in the inground
pond, and every several of weeks I net a
bloated (very dead) toad. That pond has
been the scene of toad activity almost since
we put it in, what, five years ago?

There are larger goldfish and/or comets
in the inground pond. Again, I haven't
noticed any population decrease.

On an unrelated note, at an event at Water
Garden Gems last Fall, I talked with some
people from a local school who were in
the process of designing a pond (with lots
of expert help). I offered fish and plants.
Left my contact info. They called about two
weeks ago and one teacher came by. I netted
some of my small shubunkin & comets and
several larger, and tossed in some healthy
floating plants. It felt good to give excess
population away to a good cause.

Gail
near San Antonio TX USA

Fun!
Reminds me when we set up tadpole nurseries in all
the second grade classrooms to save a population
of eggs and taddies and canoodling adults who had
chosen a pool cover for their nursery. Was wild.

Neatest thing was the day I came in to take care of
the tank and the kids told me there was a fish in amongst
the tadpoles. Are you sure? Sure enough, a tiny fish was
swimming in the tank. I figure he came in, as an egg, on
the anacharis I bought for the tank. We named him Egghead
and when the baby froglets were released he came home
to live in my son's tank.

k :-)

kathy" wrote in message
...
Fun!
Reminds me when we set up tadpole nurseries in all
the second grade classrooms to save a population
of eggs and taddies and canoodling adults who had
chosen a pool cover for their nursery. Was wild.

Neatest thing was the day I came in to take care of
the tank and the kids told me there was a fish in amongst
the tadpoles. Are you sure? Sure enough, a tiny fish was
swimming in the tank. I figure he came in, as an egg, on
the anacharis I bought for the tank. We named him Egghead
and when the baby froglets were released he came home
to live in my son's tank.

k :-)

Fish eggs and fry can be sneaky, all right. I'm
setting up a new 55 gallon aquarium. Tonight
I noticed babies! From where?? There are no
(zero) fish in there. But I have been moving
plants around, and one of the source tanks has
three Glowlight Tetras, which are egg-scatterers.
I won't know for awhile if that's what I have,
but it was quite a shock.

Back to ponds: I started doing a serious
cleaning of my inground pond today. Several
pots have fall over so the water is dirty with,
well, dirt. I'm doing this gradually. Scooping
out water by bucket for several days (replacing
with fresh water each day, of course), and
eventually I'll get more aggressive, with a shop
vac or Python (if that's what it's called).

Several potted plants (marginals) are infested
with weeds and I'll probably just take them
out. I have more than enough floating
plants or plants that grow even though they're
not in pots (like my hardy lily).

Gail
near San Antonio TX

I'm not sure what kind of frogs they are, Jan. They originally came
from the nearby woods and streams. I thought they were just eastern
wood frogs or common frogs, but I'll look into it a bit and see.

The frog eggs have been getting left in the stream where fish don't
typically end up. The stream is fed from the waterfall and the main
fish-pond area is off of waterfalls from that, so the only way up
there unless your a salmon is through the skimmer pump. The big fish
never end up there, so I guess that's how the eggs survive.

The tadpoles are maybe 3" long with a big ol' head. They look like a
pretty big mouthful for the goldfish. I've never seen the fish
bothering them although the tadpoles are in both sections of the pond.
Sometimes they end up in my bottom drain pump's basket, but most
survive to be returned to the pond.

Anyway, you've got me curious so I'll figure out what they are.

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:27:54 EDT, Pond Addict
wrote:

The tadpoles are maybe 3" long with a big ol' head. They look like a
pretty big mouthful for the goldfish. I've never seen the fish
bothering them although the tadpoles are in both sections of the pond.

If it were in my pond and 3" long it would be a bullfrog. I envy you
when they begin to bellow, but close neighbors might not like them.
--
Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8
http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb

Bullfrog taddie good guess, Greenfrog might be also.

If you see any adults look at the eardrum. Bullfrogs have
a fold of skin that curves around the eardrum, in Greenfrogs
it goes down the back. Bullfrogs call is 'rum, rum, rum'
and Greenfrogs, I think, are like the pluck of a banjo string.

k :-)

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:27:54 EDT, Pond Addict
wrote:

Anyway, you've got me curious so I'll figure out what they are.

Cool. Or post a picture (do you have a website, photobucket or something?).
I bet someone will recognize what you have. I wouldn't be surprised if
they're BF taddies though, which are large and some take over a year to
turn to frogs.

I had to go out frog catching last night. I have 3 males in a bucket, that
I think I'll take to school tomorrow. I also had a male & female in another
bucket with the hope I'd get spawn. This morning, since they were both
together I turned them loose in the stock tank w/water cress, so
hopefully.... they'll take the hint.

I did find last night that my frog croaking keychain does work, not only
did it get the males to croak I had a female coming in my direction (that's
how I caught her and put her in the bucket. :-[) ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

~ jan wrote:
I also had a male & female in another
bucket with the hope I'd get spawn. This morning, since they were both
together I turned them loose in the stock tank w/water cress, so
hopefully.... they'll take the hint.

I don't know, water cress never was much of an aphrodisiac for me.

Chip

Chip wrote
I don't know, water cress never was much of an aphrodisiac for me.

You're probably not one for goggly eyes, green legs or
warty skin either...

k :-)

kathy wrote:
Chip wrote
I don't know, water cress never was much of an aphrodisiac for me.

You're probably not one for goggly eyes, green legs or
warty skin either...

k :-)

Not the 1st two, but warty skin, yummy!

Chip

On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:52:20 EDT, Chip wrote:

kathy wrote:
Chip wrote
I don't know, water cress never was much of an aphrodisiac for me.

You're probably not one for goggly eyes, green legs or
warty skin either...

k :-)

Not the 1st two, but warty skin, yummy!

Chip

Don't watch a thread for a day, and look what happens. gasp
I came up with a great spawning area, since I've been finding lots of
females this year. I guess they like the sound of this fake frog....

I put 2 huge mesh baskets together, cut a flap in the top so I can drop
water cress and frogs in. Couple of days, I'll turn the females loose and
run the males over to..... Kathy's. ;-)

I'm also finding eggs in the lily pond, as 1 male always seems to get pass
me. As I find them, before the fish, I'm transferring them to the kiddy
pond. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us