Frog Ponds in Backyards

• Acquiring Frogs
• Pools
• Shelters
• Timing/Season
• Fences
• Fish
• Water
• Food
• Noise
  

Acquiring Frogs

It is illegal to take frogs or tadpoles from the wild in the ACT or move them from one water body to another. However frogs move around most parts of the ACT during rainy weather at night and can be enticed to stay in your yard by providing them with water and shelter. Schools and other institutions can get a permit to take frogs or tadpoles from the wild for study purposes but they must be returned to where they were taken from at the end of the study.

Pools

Pools should be about a minimum of 1m in diameter or equivalent in surface area and 20cm deep or deeper. They can be bought readymade at garden centres or a suitable depression can be dug in the ground and lined with heavy duty black plastic. An old bathtub sunk into the ground is a cheap alternative. If using a bathtub or black plastic drape some cloth or hessian down the inside to enable frogs to climb out. Dogs should be kept away from the black plastic lined pools as they can puncture the plastic with their claws and drain them. Provide some rushes or sedges (found in wet areas) for frogs to hide in while calling in the pool and close to the pool. Avoid tall species such as reeds and bulrushes as they will fill and choke the pool quickly. Some frog species call near water in bushes or in hollow trees. Safety - Please take extra care where small children may access a pool to prevent accidental drowning. Pools should be fenced with childproof fencing, as used around kindergartens and childcare centres, or covered with secured weldmesh (available at steel suppliers) as used for concrete re-enforcing.

Shelters

Frogs shelter in the wild under thick grass, grass litter, cracks and holes in the ground, holes in trees, logs and rocks. Logs and rocks can be set up in backyards to provide shelter for frogs. They have the added advantage that they can be inspected for the presence of frogs. Frogs have a moist skin and such shelters need to be thick enough to protect them from the heat and dry air in summer and frosts in winter. Heavy logs and rocks that can barely manoeuvre into position should be sufficient. Sleepers (ensure that you purchase real sleepers, as ones made of treated pine can be harmful to frogs) are about the minimum width and thickness for year round shelter. They can be cut in half for easier handling. Thinner planks are OK if the area is watered regularly. Avoid treated timber as the chemical used may hurt or kill frogs. Leave gaps about 1cm to 2cm high under the shelters with one or two entrances about 5cm wide for the frogs to get in. Large entrances will allow the space under the shelter to dry out more quickly. Place some shelters close to the pool.

Timing/Season

Most species of frog move to water bodies in spring to breed and away from these water bodies after the breeding season. Some frog species breed in winter. The best time to set up a pool and shelters is in late winter to early spring but frogs will usually turn up most times of the year when it rains except maybe in winter.

Fences

A paling, brick or sheet metal fence can be a barrier to frogs but frogs can usually find their way around such obstacles. If no frogs have turned up under your frog shelters after a couple of rain events in spring, summer or autumn and your yard is surrounded by such fences try to make one or more gaps about 2cm high and 5cm wide under the fence on each side of your yard.

Fish

Some people put fish in backyard pools to control mosquitos. Fish such as Goldfish, trout, carp and Mosquito Fish eat tadpoles and frog eggs. Mosquitos are a natural food item of froglets that have just metamorphosed. Without an adequate food supply froglets will die within a day of emerging from the water.

Water

Some frog species need access to water outside of the breeding season while others can hold sufficient water to last between rain events. Use rainwater for pools if possible or leave tap water standing in an open container such as a tub overnight to aerate. Tap water is chlorinated and may hurt or kill frogs if added to the pond straight from the tap. It will also kill algae.

Food

Mosquitos, flies, other insects and invertebrates are the natural food of most frogs while tadpoles feed on algae.

Noise

Frogs calling at night may keep your neighbours awake. Therefore ponds should be located as far as possible away from your neighbours' bedroom windows. Frogs usually call for only a few weeks and people often miss them when they stop. If the frogs calling do become an unbearable nuisance the options to consider are:

• drain the pool;
• fill the pool in; or
• move the pool.

Covering the pool with mosquito netting is not an option as it will prevent frogs from getting at the water when they need it. Some frog species call near the water only going to the water when they have found a mate.