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- Jan 30, 2023
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Hello, folks!
I've been interested in amphibians pretty much all of my life.
And I must admit that New England is one of the best places for an amphibian enthusiast to live.
Back when we lived in Connecticut, I remember the abundance of frogs, toads, and salamanders that lived in our backyard.
But arguably my favorite memory of all was the red eft I found under a rock after a rainfall.
It was our neighbor's vernal pool that attracted the eft to our backyard, although they eventually filled it in.
Since then, we have moved to New Hampshire, and as of yet, we haven't seen any evidence of red efts being present in our backyard.
We would love to see red efts on our property, but our property is small and restricted.
Our woodlot, and our neighbor's woodlots, provide sufficient habitat for red efts, especially if we continue to promote amphibians with moist woody cover and brush piles.
But our pond-building space is small, especially since most of our property is dedicated to our dog fence area (and I don't think that dogs and amphibians would mix well).
And red efts are aquatic as adults, and only breed in bodies of water.
As I've mentioned on another post, we may be building an enclosed pond for our turtle, but she probably wouldn't coexist with newts, so if we were to build a newt and native amphibian pond, we might need to make it a separate pond.
In terms of spacing, how big should a newt pond be at a minimum? And how deep should it be?
I'm taking into consideration predators (although newts are poisonous and mostly don't worry about much) and even the bioload of the pond.
Would the newts (as well as the frogs and tadpoles) produce too much waste for a small pond?
I'm aware that in northern NH, a shallow pond would be unlikely to remain unfrozen in the winter. But I'm also aware that red-spotted newts can leave the water to hibernate on land, usually underground, before the beginning of the cold winter months.
With newts being so small, I can't imagine that they would require a very big pond.
Any input, especially from experience, would be much appreciated.
Thanks! God bless!
I've been interested in amphibians pretty much all of my life.
And I must admit that New England is one of the best places for an amphibian enthusiast to live.
Back when we lived in Connecticut, I remember the abundance of frogs, toads, and salamanders that lived in our backyard.
But arguably my favorite memory of all was the red eft I found under a rock after a rainfall.
It was our neighbor's vernal pool that attracted the eft to our backyard, although they eventually filled it in.
Since then, we have moved to New Hampshire, and as of yet, we haven't seen any evidence of red efts being present in our backyard.
We would love to see red efts on our property, but our property is small and restricted.
Our woodlot, and our neighbor's woodlots, provide sufficient habitat for red efts, especially if we continue to promote amphibians with moist woody cover and brush piles.
But our pond-building space is small, especially since most of our property is dedicated to our dog fence area (and I don't think that dogs and amphibians would mix well).
And red efts are aquatic as adults, and only breed in bodies of water.
As I've mentioned on another post, we may be building an enclosed pond for our turtle, but she probably wouldn't coexist with newts, so if we were to build a newt and native amphibian pond, we might need to make it a separate pond.
In terms of spacing, how big should a newt pond be at a minimum? And how deep should it be?
I'm taking into consideration predators (although newts are poisonous and mostly don't worry about much) and even the bioload of the pond.
Would the newts (as well as the frogs and tadpoles) produce too much waste for a small pond?
I'm aware that in northern NH, a shallow pond would be unlikely to remain unfrozen in the winter. But I'm also aware that red-spotted newts can leave the water to hibernate on land, usually underground, before the beginning of the cold winter months.
With newts being so small, I can't imagine that they would require a very big pond.
Any input, especially from experience, would be much appreciated.
Thanks! God bless!
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