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Frog disease
Everywhere I go at the moment, I see dead frogs in ponds, very visible as they always seem to lie upside down with thier white bellies very visible. I thought, as frogs seem to be on everyones mind at this time of year, I'd look into whats happening and this is what i've found.
The story seems to start with frogs being imported into the USA from S, Africa in the 1930's where they were used in early pregnancy tests, with them came the chytrid fungus (to which all amphibians are succeptable) This fungus spread into the wild. It then seemlingly was passed to Britain initially with the importing of bullfrog tadpoles, popular in the 1980's and then in the 1990's with the increasing imports of farmed goldfish. Its said that American fish farmers even used to shoot bullfrogs (who predated on these farmed goldfish) blasting them with shot guns, the fish then eating these bits of blasted frog, thus transporting the disease where ever these fish ended up ! Once here, the disease (which has the potential to be as viralent as mixamatosis was to rabbits) quickly spread. A further complication is that frogs were becomming more succeptible to this fungus due to high levels of copper in thier diet, from eating half dead slugs, toxicated by the new type of blue slug pellet now becomming more commonly used by gardeners. So once again, as with alot of other diseases in various animals, seemlingly ' innocent' imports have again caused devastation, will we EVER learn ????? |
#2
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I suspect we're going to lose most of the ones who overwintered in the pond, and will have to rely on the ones who overwintered elsewhere.
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#3
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Frog disease
On Feb 13, 10:26*pm, kay wrote:
lannerman;912786 Wrote: Everywhere I go at the moment, I see dead frogs in ponds, very visible as they always seem to lie upside down with thier white bellies very visible. I thought, as frogs seem to be on everyones mind at this time of year, I'd look into whats happening and this is what i've found. The story seems to start with frogs being imported into the USA from S, Africa in the 1930's where they were used in early pregnancy tests, with them came the chytrid fungus (to which all amphibians are succeptable) This fungus spread into the wild. It then seemlingly was passed to Britain initially with the importing of bullfrog tadpoles, popular in the 1980's and then in the 1990's with the increasing imports of farmed goldfish. Its said that American fish farmers even used to shoot bullfrogs (who predated on these farmed goldfish) blasting them with shot guns, the fish then eating these bits of blasted frog, thus transporting the disease where ever these fish ended up ! Once here, the disease (which has the potential to be as viralent as mixamatosis was to rabbits) quickly spread. A further complication is that frogs were becomming more succeptible to this fungus due to high levels of copper in thier diet, from eating half dead slugs, toxicated by the new type of blue slug pellet now becomming more commonly used by gardeners. So once again, as with alot of other diseases in various animals, seemlingly ' innocent' imports have again caused devastation, will we EVER learn ????? I'm not sure that's necessarily the problem this year. We've lost some frogs, not through disease, but because the pond froze to a depth of about 18 inches, and they'd decided to tuck themselves into the shallow end. I suspect we're going to lose most of the ones who overwintered in the pond, and will have to rely on the ones who overwintered elsewhere. -- kay- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Yes, we had the same thing happen a few years back after a very cold Winter. |
#4
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Frog disease
In article ,
kay wrote: ...I'm not sure that's necessarily the problem this year. We've lost some frogs, not through disease, but because the pond froze to a depth ofabout 18 inches, and they'd decided to tuck themselves into the shallowend. Ditto (I think): as reported in another thread, we lost 13 frogs, 4 survived. I'm sure it's because the pond was frozen solid, and I failed to knock a hole in the ice for all that time (other years I've both knocked a hole in the ice, and in any case the ice wasn't so solid for so long). I know the figures, btw, because, as reported, I've emptied the pond completely in the last week. John |
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Lannerman. Lannerman |
#6
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Frog disease
"Chris Hogg" wrote in message ... On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:11:21 +0000, lannerman wrote: snip A further complication is that frogs were becomming more succeptible to this fungus due to high levels of copper in thier diet, from eating half dead slugs, toxicated by the new type of blue slug pellet now becomming more commonly used by gardeners. I've not heard this before. AFAIK the new type of blue slug pellets that I have seen (and use), contain iron phosphate (the older blue pellets use metaldehyde, I believe). Is there another type that contains copper? -- Chris Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea. Mild, but very exposed to salt gales E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net Not as far as I know just the two sorts you have outlined above, although you can use aluminum sulphate solution as a liquid killer this has become unpopular after camleford showed what aluminum poisoning does to humans -- Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella and Lapageria rosea cvs http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk |
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