Frogs, Friend or Foe?

[Jinxdkarma]

Last night we were kept awake ALL night long by the incessant mating calls of about 25 frogs in our pond. We captured them and released them down the street near a drainage pond at 3:30am in hopes of quieting the house down. However, as I type this I have been on several more *capture & release* trips and they are still popping up so I feel like my efforts to get some peace & quiet are futile..

I noticed the thousands of eggs this morning and rather than get sucked into the vast universe of Google, wihch immediately told me that the frog eggs will kill my fish if they eat them, I came here.

So which is it, friend or foe?
I'm thinking these were some kind of toad.
The eggs are little black specks in rows all throughout my pond plants.

Is there a way to easily remove the bulk of the eggs? That seems like an overkill of tadpoles in the near future, and my ponds aren't that big,
Will they or won't they harm my as either eggs or tadpoles?

I know they're part of the pond owner life, but I'm not really a fan of noisy, horny toads everywhere keeping us awake. The pond is right outside my poor son's room!
Thanks all! This forum is quickly becoming my favorite place to ask questions. You have all been so gracious!

 

[Neo]

I've read mixed opinions on how toxic they are to fish, I know I just read on here last week someone that was almost certain that's what killed their fish but I've seen others say their ponds are full of eggs and no problems.

Not sure how to get them out but if it was me and they bothered that badly I would remove them somehow lol. My oldest pond here is going on it's 4th year and I hear lots of frogs and toads at night but they have never tried to get in the pond for some reason. Maybe they are fighters and not lovers

Hopefully someone here who has dealt with this will have some ideas before tonight! Welcome to the forum!

 

[crsublette]

Yeah, I don't know what to think about it either. Not for sure if it is a myth about the toad eggs being toxic to fish or not. I've never read any official document indicating this to be true one way or another.

Now, it is true that bullfrogs will swim and chase your small fish and these bullfrogs will eat them. So, if you see any bullfrogs, then you will definitely want to relocate them.

For the eggs, you could get a toilet bowl brush and then spaghetti noodle them out. There are many trials and tribulations for the eggs and tadpoles to overcome before they actually turn into something. Biggest hurdle are the eggs and tadpoles surviving a particular fungus.


I remember the first time I've heard the frogs, toads, bullfrogs, make noise. I thought a farm cat of mine got its head stuck again, upside down, in some piping, while mewing for help, which I am always there for the rescue. The sound can be incredibly loud, almost like a scream from an animal that is in trouble. There are some tree frogs that I am told almost sound like a dog bark.

For me, they seem to go away later in the year, after they're done spawning, once the weather significantly warms up.

 

[Jinxdkarma]

I scooped out as many of the egg strands as possible this morning with an old fish net. Quite an experience. I noticed a few new pairs of frog eyes watching me from little spots around the foliage...so I scooped them up too and relocated them all. I'm already seeing a couple tadpoles so I must have missed the first round of mating, lol.
The noise is unlike anything I've ever heard. I did a quick search of it online and chuckled when the first thing to pop up was a news article about neighbors calling into the police for a noise complaint only to find out it was frogs in the neighbor's pond!


In other news, I've almost gotten over my irrational fear of slimy frogs after this experience. :coolgleema:

 

[sissy]

I have the same problem and take them 5 miles away ,besides the ones aggie kills and sucks on them until nothing is left except the out side part that I have to scoop out .I take about 20 or more a week away and still more show up .I take buckets of frog eggs out also .There is a creek across the road from me and I go down there and don't hear a frog .

 

[HTH]

We used to do the catch and relocate thing with the frogs. My fear is they are eating fry and they are just too noisy.

 

[crsublette]

I scooped out as many of the egg strands as possible this morning with an old fish net. Quite an experience. I noticed a few new pairs of frog eyes watching me from little spots around the foliage...so I scooped them up too and relocated them all. I'm already seeing a couple tadpoles so I must have missed the first round of mating, lol.
The noise is unlike anything I've ever heard. I did a quick search of it online and chuckled when the first thing to pop up was a news article about neighbors calling into the police for a noise complaint only to find out it was frogs in the neighbor's pond!


In other news, I've almost gotten over my irrational fear of slimy frogs after this experience. :coolgleema:

Yeah, folk will get over those icky, ooey gooey, slimy, smelly fears quite fast in this hobby. Just be sure to wash the hands and don't make lemonade out of the pond water. My favorite bumper stickers is, "clear water is not clean water."

Scooping out dead fish, which hasn't happened in a long time, still bugs me. Not for sure if I should feed them to my farm cats or memorialize them in my cat masoleums or in my dog pet cemetery that is hidden in a corn field... Well, I might be exaggerating a bit... maybe... just a little... It still does bug me.

 

[addy1]

I just let the frogs be, never see a fish kill because of them, enjoy the chorus. They eat tons of bugs. Even with the thousands of eggs I see, then thousands of tads, there never seems to be an overload of the little critters.

 

[jeffery]

i have the same type of toads as you do in your photo .
my fish seem to leave the eggs alone for the most part .
i have seen them eat some and they are still doing the same as they were before they ate them.
the tads seem to thin out quite fast . i have been spotting tinny baby toads about the size of the post button hopping in the grass
but the birds are doing a good job keeping the numbers down.

 

[shakaho]

Here's where you can identify your FL frogs/toads. You can also listen to the call.

After my fish helped greatly reduce the population of invasive Cuban tree frogs, my toad population has exploded, since the fish won't eat toad eggs/tadpoles which taste bad. All toads at all stages of their lives are poisonous, but they differ in their toxicity. Most are just poisonous enough to cause mouth pain, excess salivation, and vomiting in an animal that tries to eat it. If a dog grabs a cane toad, it will be dead within an hour unless someone succeeds in washing the mouth out with a hose immediately and then rushing the dog to the vet. In some places in the far east, toads and toad eggs (often the cane toads) are eaten, and people have been poisoned by eating toad eggs, as well as toads, and by taking folk medicines containing toad venom. There is no question that cane toad eggs and tadpoles are toxic to fish, but they are also they nasty-tasting, and fish usually refuse to eat them.

It's usually only young or inexperienced fish who try to eat toad eggs, and the smaller the animal, the less poison it can handle, so it is possible that a small fish with a big appetite could die from eating even less toxic toad eggs/tadpoles.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Toads have the worst mating call.. but mating season is short.
I'm personally considering putting a 30g pond next to my larger one in case I get any frog or toad eggs in the bigger pond, I'll move them to the small one so they don't hurt my fish and my fish don't hurt them.

 

[PondTBD]

Here's what I found Googling:

There are 3 ways to keep toads out of your pond.

Make it an above ground pond, at least 60cm high with vertical walls. The downside to this though, is that some breeds of native frog don’t like this set up either, so by excluding the toads, you are also excluding any ground dwelling frogs.
Install a ‘Toad Fence’ around the pond itself or the yard. For an ‘inground pond’, it needs to extend to 60cm above the pond height, and about 20cm deep below the ground. You can plant low shrubs or heliconias around it to disguise it, so it needn’t look unsightly.

Removal. Do a ‘toad patrol’ every other night and remove any toads and their eggs. In Australia, toad eggs are easy to identify, as they look very different to frog eggs. While frogs lay their eggs in clumps or frothy mats (looking like a lump of foam or frothed up soap) on the water surface, or attached to a leaf or rock, toads lay their eggs within long strands of clear gel – they look at bit like small black pearls inside a clear plastic tube.

I've got a toad fence around my back yard to keep dog safe, seems I need to do the same for pond I'm planning in front

 

[PondTBD]

Lastest find to keep out toads it stop plant lomandras around the pond so the toads can't get in, does has anyone heard about using plants to keep toads out?

 

[DeepWater]

I'm the complete opposite! I remodeled the pond to be as toad friendly as possible. We love the chorus of calling males during their breeding season. We open the windows and sleep to the singing angels all night long.

PS the OP pic (4 years ago) is all toads, no frogs.

 

[addy1]

I enjoy the toads and frogs. Toads come first, a lot of toads, you can see their eyes at night glowing. This was early March last year