Why no frogs?

[nealeholl]

I created a largish pool (about 20m across) in our garden in October 2007. The excavations were pretty much recovered by last summer, and there was plenty of signs of invertebrate life, and lots of weed growth. The pool is close to a rather turgid little stream with not much flow, but which does back up and flood when the adjoining larger stream is in spate. This in turn occasionally overspills into my pond, topping it up.

The pond is entirely surrounded by pretty well untouched grassland and weeds (it WILL be called a meadow one day!).

I created the pool with nice shallow sloping edges for wildlife, and there are no fish. (Correction, I saw one tiny little fish the other day, obviously washed in when the stream spilled over in the winter).

So... how come I have to sit here reading with envy the posts by everyone about frogs' choruses and masses of spawn. I haven't seen one solitary frog, and am feeling very left out! Any ideas how long it might take before I have a vibrant amphibian population?

[ron1863]

I think if I was you I would help things along by finding some frog and toad spawn and transplanting it into my own pool.

[nealeholl]

Just done that! Fingers crossed.

[ron1863]

It should be fine now as they tend to return tp their place of birth.

[Madelinew]

Hate to put a damper on things but I think that may be illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. I stand to be corrected of course!

It can take a few years to attract frogs and toads but if you have plenty of other wildlife living in there, they will come of their own accord eventually.

[Hedge Witch]

No, I'm fairly sure it's not illegal. Frowned upon, yes. But not yet illegal (as long as money doesn't change hands).

[Bouncytigger]

Originally Posted by nealeholl

I created a largish pool (about 20m across) in our garden in October 2007. The excavations were pretty much recovered by last summer, and there was plenty of signs of invertebrate life, and lots of weed growth. The pool is close to a rather turgid little stream with not much flow, but which does back up and flood when the adjoining larger stream is in spate. This in turn occasionally overspills into my pond, topping it up.

The pond is entirely surrounded by pretty well untouched grassland and weeds (it WILL be called a meadow one day!).

I created the pool with nice shallow sloping edges for wildlife, and there are no fish. (Correction, I saw one tiny little fish the other day, obviously washed in when the stream spilled over in the winter).

So... how come I have to sit here reading with envy the posts by everyone about frogs' choruses and masses of spawn. I haven't seen one solitary frog, and am feeling very left out! Any ideas how long it might take before I have a vibrant amphibian population?

Well I've been waiting longer then you Buddy bear

November 2006 i put in my two ponds ,got three now if you count my new barrel pond

However tempting it is I'm gonna wait for them to find my garden.
Thats half the fun and i'm like a small kid on christmas morning as i rush to the bedroom window each morning and gaze into the frogless water below

instead of has he been?..... it's more like have they been??!! lol

when and if they do arrive i do have a nice bottle of champers on hold

[Gerel]

I may be wrong (again ) but as I understood it ,moving frogspawn about is discouraged by various conservation groups because of the risk of transporting diseases and invasive plants etc. along with the spawn helping to spread them more rapidly. Not aware of it being specifically outlawed though, except, as the Hedge Witch says, when there is a financial element.

[Dogghound]

Yes Gerel hit the nail on the head, please do not remove spawn from existing ponds and transport it to yours. There is a risk of disease as well as spawn failure. There is a reason why frogs have chose not to breed in your pond, this may not be clear to you, but the frogs clearly think its benificial to breed elsewhere. It is a fairly new pond and is possibly not established enough, frogs will come to ponds within time. Its far more enjoyable to get them through your ponds maturity than bringing them there yourself.

[Jim Ford]

I believe that in spite of the positive reports of amphibians this year, they're suffering a massive decline. We've had frogs and newts for years in our 3 ponds, but haven't seen any for the last 2. We've made no changes to the garden to put them off.

Jim