frog advice please

[wales1000]

i have discovered that we have a small frog living in our composite heap and been advised to not turn it over now until the spring, but my main concern is our cat - he lives most of the time outdoors and has in the past killed birds, but thankfully i feed the birds out the front of my garden so he cant get them. i was thinking of building a small pond next year as in 10 years i have been living here i have never seen a frog in my garden and would love to keep them in the garden, but i am not sure what to do about the cat and making a pond for the frogs - they might go when spring comes, but they are still around, i would like to make something for them - my garden doesn't have any trees, or bushes, so i was surprised to see them, but could someone please advise what to do about the cat and frog situation? the composite is situated right by the garage, which we dont use. many thanks. Natasha

[Gatekeeper]

Well, if it was me, I'm afraid the cat would be packing it's bags

[wales1000]

nice, but unfortuantely that is not an option! the reason we have him is cos next door up and left and left him behind and he always lived outside, so now he has a kennel with heat pads in and doesnt stray out of the garden only to go to his old garden next door! i just dont know what to do now about the frogs - maybe come spring they will disappear

[Hedera]

Cats are intrigued when the frogs hop about but rarely catch them. If it is a toad they don't taste very nice anyway! It would be nice to have a pond, even a small one, as the frogs will multiply. They spend most of their lives out of water searching for slugs and snails to eat. The one in your compost heap is hibernating until spring when it will look for a pond and other frogs to mate. You will have frogs all over the garden, far too many for the cat to bother with!

[Malcolm Banks]

We have two cats (including an "outdoor type"), a pond and loads of frogs and toads in and around the pond all year round. Although the cats frequently put them up from cover, they always find their way to safety in the pond and I have never seen one injure a frog (or toad). It would be a good idea though, if you choose to make a pond, to create some close foliage/herbage cover for them nearby the pond, maybe a small area you can allow to go a bit wild and overgrown?
M

[wales1000]

great advice, thank you - i will deffo try and build a pond - I am on a very tight budget as i am on maternity leave at the moment, so money is very tight, so i am going to keep an eye out for an old bath or sink or something, so it wont be too big, but enough for frogs etc - there is an area right next to the garage which has started over growing, so i could build the pond near that x

[~T~]

I think sadly it depends on the cat. I had a pond growing up and my cat would steer clear of them but the neighbours cat was pretty adept at catching and killing them

[Jonners]

Originally Posted by wales1000

great advice, thank you - i will deffo try and build a pond - I am on a very tight budget as i am on maternity leave at the moment, so money is very tight, so i am going to keep an eye out for an old bath or sink or something, so it wont be too big, but enough for frogs etc - there is an area right next to the garage which has started over growing, so i could build the pond near that x

If you go for the bath or sink option, do make sure that there are rocks, pots or something that will be a permanent means for creatures to crawl out of the pond. The steep, shiny sides of a bath can be particularly troublesome if/when the water level drops. We had an old bath sunk in part of the garden once, and I put a load of old rocks and bricks in one end so that nothing could get stuck, be it a frog or an unfortunate hedgehog. Have fun with it

[wales1000]

i have a baby bath, do you think that would be any good to use? i see what you are saying about having rocks etc so they can get out, so i make sure there is, i wouldn't want any animal to get stuck in there.

[Kayleigh]

Ideally it would have to be 18" or deeper to sustain any wildlife overwintering in there.
My Barrel is in a sheltered spot and does not freeze through in winter.
Wales gets pretty cold..