pond cover question with frogs

I have a very tiny pond with a rubber liner, but covered with rocks. Last summer, for the first time, I had frogs in the pond. In the fall, my handyman put on a wooden cover he made to keep the leaves and debris out. When we took the cover off this spring, there were 2 dead frogs floating in the pond. I am guessing that they might have dived in the water when they saw him coming, but I wasn't there. I think they normally survive the winter by digging in the soil, but there would have been no soil to dig in under the cover. Now I am worried about how to put the cover back in the fall so as not to kill any frogs, if they come back. When they dive in, you can't see very well were they go, so it is not as if I could scoop them out with the net. I feel really bad about this, and am looking for suggestions from those with more experience.

Susan in Minneapolis

I would think just using a pond net over your pond will keep debis out
and this would allow frogs access in & out .Otherwise can your handyman cut out a whole in the cover to allow them to come and go as they please?

Susan, how deep is your pond? My frogs hibernate in the mud/muck in my water garden, sometimes if we get a very warm late fall day or warm late winter day they will come up to the surface for a while. I keep my waterfall and pump running all winter to oxygenate the water.
The shallow end of the garden freezes solid but the 2 1/2 ft deep end by the waterfall only ices over and then thaws out. That is where my fish and frogs stay in the wintertime.
If your pond froze solid that might be your answer to the frogs dieing.
Chris

Chris,
My pond is very tiny, about 6 ft. in diameter, and about 2.5 ft. deep at the center. In zone 4, I would guess that it freezes solid, or almost so. I take the pump out, since it is part of a tiny water trickle to the pond, and that would most certainly freeze. I have no live fish because I just don't want to deal with them in the winter (I do have a fake fish). I know very little about ponds, and I didn't know there was such a thing as a pond net. I had the cover made because I didn't want the leaves, buds, etc., to soak in the water, which it might if the pond net rested in the water. I just read about a pond pillow, which is used to prop up the pond net, but I wonder if there is heavy snow, if that really works. Back to the frogs -- there isn't much muck in the bottom, because it has the rubber liner, and then rocks, and I try to keep the muck from accumulating when I clean it. Also, I thought about the fact that if the frogs are in the pond when it is covered by any means, and an exit were left open, if they have the eyesight and intelligence to find the exit and leave. My pond cover is wood, so maybe seeing daylight could help, but I didn't actually close up the gaps under the pond cover (with plastic sheeting) and apparently they didn't leave that way, although maybe they were hibernating already. Do they actually hibernate under water? I guess I thought it was in mud or soil.

Thanks for help from those with more experience.

Susan

Susan , Frogs do hibernate underwater, toads on the other hand will dig in soft dirt to hibernate, no water for toads.
My sister one time had a small wash basin in her garden for the small wildlife to get a drink, the basin froze solid in the winter and in the spring when she emptied it she found some dead frogs, she felt really bad.
Chris