So here’s the dilemma,
In Ontario Canada it has always been said that if you build a pond it’s just a matter of time before the frogs will come. This was true for my first pond build north of the city and the same for the pond I built at my parents place on the outskirts of the city. When we built our pond in the city the frogs never came. I put a few in with some tadpoles, but they never stayed. They would reach a point in the season where it seemed they wanted a mate and hopped right out of the yard.
Green frog populations are on the decline, and my wife (cityponder) does not think we should be taking tadpoles and putting them in the pond if they are not going to survive. To put things into perspective, we are very much in the city. We have a strip of park behind us, then its 14 lanes of freeway. Kim has read that the frogs can’t hear each other to mate because the sound of the freeway is similar to their sounds. On top of that there are cats, racoons, and all kinds of other hazards for these little green guys in the City. I will never forget Kim’s face when she was doing some weeding at the end of the yard when a frog (1 of 2) left the pond and hopped towards her. She stood still and the frog hopped right through her legs and out of the yard, never to come back.
The pond was young when we introduced frogs. I also know the first few we tried were males, when we did have a female (from tadpole) it took too long for her to get interested in him, and he left, and never came back. I guess that’s the problem I have too; If they leave (and they do cuz that’s what frogs do) they will die. But if we ever got ahead of the game... a few generations they would be all over the place... but if they were all over the place they would venture into the school yard into the hands of school kids, or some other hazard.
Ugh... what to do?
Would you add more tadpoles?
In Ontario Canada it has always been said that if you build a pond it’s just a matter of time before the frogs will come. This was true for my first pond build north of the city and the same for the pond I built at my parents place on the outskirts of the city. When we built our pond in the city the frogs never came. I put a few in with some tadpoles, but they never stayed. They would reach a point in the season where it seemed they wanted a mate and hopped right out of the yard.
Green frog populations are on the decline, and my wife (cityponder) does not think we should be taking tadpoles and putting them in the pond if they are not going to survive. To put things into perspective, we are very much in the city. We have a strip of park behind us, then its 14 lanes of freeway. Kim has read that the frogs can’t hear each other to mate because the sound of the freeway is similar to their sounds. On top of that there are cats, racoons, and all kinds of other hazards for these little green guys in the City. I will never forget Kim’s face when she was doing some weeding at the end of the yard when a frog (1 of 2) left the pond and hopped towards her. She stood still and the frog hopped right through her legs and out of the yard, never to come back.
The pond was young when we introduced frogs. I also know the first few we tried were males, when we did have a female (from tadpole) it took too long for her to get interested in him, and he left, and never came back. I guess that’s the problem I have too; If they leave (and they do cuz that’s what frogs do) they will die. But if we ever got ahead of the game... a few generations they would be all over the place... but if they were all over the place they would venture into the school yard into the hands of school kids, or some other hazard.
Ugh... what to do?
Would you add more tadpoles?