Frogs and Ponds
Thursday April 16, 2009
I have received a few questions lately about adding frogs to outdoor ponds. Typically, frogs are particular about where they want to live and it is pretty difficult to convince them to stay if they want to go. In addition, do not add a non-native species to your pond -- this is never a good idea (if they manage to survive, they may devastate the local ecosystem). Ultimately the best way to share your yard and pond with frogs is to build the perfect frog pond and habitat, and wait for the frogs to move in ("If you build it...they will come"), although this may require a significant deal of patience. Some tips on creating a frog-friendly pond and attracting frogs to your yard can be found in Frogs and Ponds
Comments
09/24/06
I have an outdoor pond and usually have one frog in the pond. In the spring I find the one frog dead when I renew the water. My fish do ok because I have an aerator to keep the pond from freezing. This year I have 5 bullfrogs and I don’t want to see them dead next spring. Could you tell me what I can do to keep them alive? I have water lilies and hyacynths,it seems they don’t want to leave the pond. The only thing I can think of is transfer them to a deeper pond.
Thank you,
Larry
Hi there
As long as the pond doesn’t freeze, they should technically be able to survive. You might add more aeration to make sure oxygen levels in the water are adequate. I found more advice on overwintering frogs here:
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/frog3.htm
Hope this helps, Lianne
Frogs will find you if you have good water quality. Mainly bullfrogs, which are not harmful to your ecosystem. You can add native frogs. When adding frogs it is better to do so when they are tadpoles because it will increase the odds of them coming back to your pond year after year. Also, tadpoles are beneficial to you pond because they eat small aquatic insects and algae.