We had tons of polliwogs a few weeks ago. We probably lost some to the egret that visited a few times, but some we were watching develop and figured we would see legs soon. Now we're not seeing the bigger ones. Also, our frog has stopped croaking at night.
What is the usual cycle? Do the little guys move off right away?
Just to clarify - I do know the life cycle of frogs, I'm just wondering how they act in a pond setting.
This message was edited May 7, 2007 8:43 PM
What happens to frogs?
kaperc..........tadpole development will vary depending on the weather...the warmer it is, the more quickly they will develop. If you get a chilly spell, they will hold off on development. As soon as they get all 4 legs, they will start to hang out around plants and start to wander off, even if they still have small tails. Here in Florida we have anole lizards who love to feast on them as they climb up the plant stems. Some make it, some don't...I guess that's nature's reason for 5,000 eggs at a time!
Ahhh, I didn't know about the weather reaction. Interesting. We never see the frog(s) BTW. We would hear him croaking at night, but during the day he hides under the bridge where the pump is. We only hear one, though there must be more to do the frog tango! That's why we were hoping to have more so we would see one once in a while. :-(
Thanks.
Have no fear, it's still pretty early in the season, even though it's warming up. If there's one out there calling to others, they will be there soon..... Frog eggs usually float on the surface in a gel...toad eggs are usually long black strands.....the fish will not eat toad eggs, but WILL pick off frog eggs. You can set up a water dish garden and scoop the frog eggs out once you start to see them, and protect the tadpole hatchlings so you will have more frogs for your yard.
My toad is back this year already. I guess I'll have to put one of my shoes out there for a toad house. Actually he has moved into one of my pots of ZZ plant. I was giving some away last night and saw him/her. I guess that pot will have to stay there for a toad house. I have not seen the big brother/sister from last year yet but my DH has seen it, glad to see it lived through the winter again.
PeggyP
Doggone it, I want to see our frog!
Even though I have a rubber lined pond I get a bull frog every year. Regretfully, I always find him dead in the skimmer in the spring. The rubber bottom doesn't give him any mud to bury himself in for hibernation. If I put a pot of mud in the pond for winter I am afraid the koi will have rooted it all out by spring. I wish I knew a way to keep the frog alive. There are no other water sources close enough to "relocate" for better winter quarters. The big mystery is where does he come from?
Oooh, I wonder if he was a baaaad bull frog in another life and keeps coming back to learn his lesson? Finding one every year like that would make me sad.
The 'where' is what I wonder. We think we have a California tree frog - DH caught a brief look at him once, but we ID'd him by the croak we found online. We also have one in the planted island in our circle drive - there's a trickle water there for wildlife. We live in a river valley, but other than a seasonal 'crik' there's really no water nearby.
My huge toad is back also this year. I was going out to get a picture of him and my batteries are dead in the digital camera. I will get a picture of him for you guys.
PeggyP
You can hang small tubes of PVC pipe to attract frogs, especially tree frogs.
If you have wireless network service, sit outside and play some of the local frog calls (you can find them on various websites) You'll be amazed how many will call back. (works with birds too)
Do you mean hang them on the sides of trees? Really! Sounds neat.
Ooooh, Mary, what a good idea! We do have wireless and will have to try this. My husband will love it - mixing technology with gardening!
Yes, you hang them anywhere that's slightly shady....trees, fenceposts, etc....They are always looking for shady protection during the hot part of the day.
My husband and I were cracking up sitting on the deck playing frog and bird noises. The cardinals would land on the table in front of me and try to figure out what was going on....the frogs started croaking/chirping in the trees, so I know they're out there!
MerryMary - I'd like to try hanging pieces of pvc to attract frogs to my small pond, but don't quite understand. Do I hang them vertically as in a wind chime, or horizontally so they can swing on the pvc bar? :)...forgive that. Seriously, does one hang many all near one another or spaced out among the trees ? I have lots of trees. Thanks for your clarification.
Just attach 8 inch or so pieces along fences in the shade, or trees. Mine are mostly vertical, we screwed them to the wooden fence. Some things around my yard are horizontal though, and I see little froggy faces in there during the day, so I don't think it will much matter which way they are posted, just so the tube stays shady inside.
What an interesting way to attract frogs! PVA piping! I'd never had thought of it. I've not seen the little tree frogs which are 'tinkling' musically' at night within the horrible fichus hedge where I enjoy the evenings outdoors here in southern Florida. Maybe if I put up the pvc pipes, I'll be able to attract them for viewing. What sizes have you found to be best?
Just a note of a most unusual experience I had 6 weeks+ ago. My DH and I drove along a local lake about 9pm. As we neared the lake, there were frogs everywhere - hopping across the road & lawns to get to the lake (even a block away from the lake) - some already squashed but oh soooo many! We were pretty amazed. But MORE amazed at the cacophany of croaking all around us. It was as though we were in stereo with the hugh noise level. We stopped so I could get out to see if they were 'buffo' toads (poisonous to animals) and a fellow came out of his house as I walked across his driveway! He was very polite when I explained my utter amazement of what was going on! Said that the first year he heard the 'huge croaking noise' he thought he'd confused spring with Halooween! It was utterly unbelievable. If I did not experience it myself, I'd never had believed just how loud and abundant the croaking was!
bedouin.....
The noise can be pretty incredible, depending on what you have in your area. The low bullfrog croaks and spring peeper singing is far different than the overload screeching of the invasive cuban tree frogs....the normal toads here in Florida can get pretty overwhelming sometimes....
With my little koi ponds around my decks, they tend to draw a crowd, especially with the drought we have been having..... and occasionally it is impossible to sleep when they all get going!
MerryMary,
I've just looked at a photo of a CTF on the net. The ones I saw were 'warty' but not as bad as the Buffo's. The tinkling I hear in the fichus hedge must be a spring peeper singing - its like bits of glass tinkling in the wind. Wish I had more of them! I've tried to get some eggs of 'good' frogs to put into my pond but not been successful! A fellow told me yesterday he is using buckets to remove the frog eggs from his pond, but could not assure me that there were no buffo's amongst them, so I did not take him up on his offer to 'come and help' myself!
Yes, the drought has hit us all badly. Had a tremendously good rain over the last 2 days due to the tropical depressing moving north from Mexico. Today skies are brilliantly blue though I do see some fluffly clouds here and there. I'll not complain if more rain is in the forecast! How are you doing, plant-wise with the watering restrictions? I've noticed my papaya trees are suffering and have lost a few potted plants. I hand water the 2 birdbaths - the birds use them without end and they are such a pleasure to watch. I have oreols, blue jays, catbirds, mocking birdsoccasionally cardinals, crows, and parrots - though the parrots only come for the sunflowers. I've never seen one taking a bath though!
I've been hand watering potted plants, but the grass is really looking bad. We didn't get as much rain here in Orlando, like some other areas in the state did. The lakes are so very very low, no wonder the wild-life is coming to my little back yard. The cardinals have been around a great deal lately, I've been trying to keep them well fed. I was going to order some tree frog tadpoles from GA (frogs that are still native to Florida as well) to try and restock what the CTF's have eaten...but the shipping was around $25 for 10 little tadpoles....I scooped handfuls of toad eggs out of my koi pond this morning. It's a little above ground pond, and must have had 12 "pairs" of toads in it this morning, which makes the water very gunky. The fish wont eat the eggs or tadpoles from toads, but they will eat the frog tadpoles and eggs, so I usually leave those in there as a snack.
I wish all you drought suffering Floridians rain without storms or floods. Seems like you guys can't catch a break. I have a friend who lives in Haines City. She keeps losing her awnings and storage sheds to hurricaines and now her grass is burning up. They "retired" to FL from cold Ohio for the warm weather. One more year of this and I think shoveling snow won't look so to them bad after all.
Oh, so sad for Florida! When I think of Florida, I think of Everglades, lots of water, tropical plants everywhere. Scary. Maybe your friends could move to southern OH, or northern KY--it's not terrible here in winter, usually.
Frogs -- I've been getting so many warnings about the Cuban Tree Frog. I have quite a few frogs that enjoy my small goldfish pond at night. Truthfully, I just can't tell the difference. The CTF has more warts apparently and a "raaank, raank" call. But I can't tell the difference with that either as there's too much noise. I'm reluctant t do anything because I just don't know for sure. But, if they are CTF's they will have to go.
Incidentally, I haven't seen any butterflies this year at all; I have all the right flowering bushes and flowers. Are the frogs eating all the caterpillars ? I've got visiting birds because I keep the feeders stocked; but I've always done this without a problem.
orchid923........Interestingly enough, we were just discussing how we've only seen one butterfly this whole summer in my yard....usually the butterfly bushes are COVERED with them....very concerning. There's also a nationwide problem with the honey bees disappearing, which will make all produce prices go up (that one is not caused by the CTF's, but the local butterfly population certainly can be)
They say the CTF's change color so much , it's often hard to tell them apart from other tree frogs. Their toe pads are usually bigger than other local tree frogs, and oddly, the skin in their heads is fused to the skull bone, so you know if what you have in your yard are CTF's by trying to slide the skin on their forehead over the bone, if it moves, they are natural frogs, if it's fused and won't move, it's a CTF. CTF's should be placed in Ziploc bags and put into the freezer as a humane way to eliminate them, but as I've stated before, I'd have no room for meat with as many as I have.
I'd love to get ahold of some green tree frogs or something similar, and try to let them breed in my koi ponds. I'd protect the tadpoles and try to reintroduce as many as possible back into the local enviroment.
Butterflies! I garden for them as well, and have had an abundance. However, everything is 'relative'. I was at Fairchild Tropical Garden last Monday and strolled thorugh their 'butterfly garden'. Just incredible how many B's were flittering from one flower to another. An excellent idea I saw there: The Polydamus butterflies only to to Aristolochia vines and since the vines are pretty invasive, to say the least, its hard to stake them up (very fragile) and contain them. They used the palm trunks as the holdstructure for 'chicken wire'. Wrapped the C.W. around the trunks to about hmm, I'm guessing here...7-10' high. (2 palms) The vies were so thick around the trunks and the larvae were sooo fat and happy! Their plants are beautifully laid out with lots of room to mature - being on a smallish lot, mine are 'squashed' and they have to survive here as best they can. I inclined to get rid of more grass and make a pathway of more plants just as they have done. Beautifully arranged. When I go next Monday, I'll take my camera along and post some pics.
I too cant tell the difference re frogs - except the horrible Buffo Toads which are so very dangerous for animals.
MerryMaryhere I'd love to get some native frogs into myponds. How about sharing the cost of them - but of course I dont know if they will survive the additional travel time. Just a thought!
I drove from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples through the Everglades a few weeks ago and was amazed at the extent of the burnt area. I always thought the Everglades consisted of a massive 'sheet' of water but of course that is not so. The 'Hammocks' are everwhere and a foot or 2 in height makes a huge difference there, so there is a lot of 'dry land'. Plus there are residential areas within the Everglades so I should not have been surprised at the extent of the fires! Still, I was!
Yes, I've heard of the bee problem. I think there is a also a virus also attacking them. With the African Bees interbreeding with the more gentle honey bees, who knows what will be the end result. Nature normally takes care of many of these types of problems but man certainly makes Nature's job well night impossible!
Check out the bee forum (under Home Talk) - some interesting threads. Definitely, there's a bee problem and not just here - the UK and Europe are experiencing the same problems and it's cause for a lot of concern.
Anyway, frogs -- I don't know whether I want to hold one so tight that I could tell whether its skin moves or not.... everytime I've picked up a frog it pees - usually over me. I'm going to keep on trying to educate myself on the CTF's before I started euthanizing any. I think one of them maybe as it's got more warts than the others; it's fairly small and greeny/yellow. Maybe I can get a photo of it and post. That would help I hope.
The poor bees suffered a mite several years back that wiped out huge colonies ( my brother keeps bees up north) Once that finally was over, they are now faced with this. Food crop farmers are extremely concerned because none of their plants are being pollinated for production. Of course, that will affect all of us price wise.
Bedouin, I'm going to look into tadpoles for sale.....I'll let you know what I find out....usually the shipping cost is the main cost, not the tadpoles themselved.
Well my bull frog is back and thank god he survives in my scimmer!!! I would be crushed thats so sad..:( I nearly you know what in my pants one year cleaning out my scimmer with my hands...I'll never do that again!!! lolol The only problem is if he hangs around here he pushes off all the other frogs because they are territorial so we only here his loud bellow.....but my neighbor has a big natural pond behind me so i think he goes over there for awhile too.