Entice Frogs into your Back Yard

[Overlandman]

There's nothing like the chorus of frogs to help you sleep of a night

I re stocked my ponds last week by driving on a sealed country road after it rained at night.
Brown tree frogs galore.

I have trouble with blue herons, they like my frogs and skinks

From ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-15/t ... ection=tas

Forget the backyard spa, Tasmanians are being urged to build water features on a much smaller scale in order to encourage local amphibians.

There are about 200 varieties of frog in Australia, three of them are found only in the island state.


SOUNDCLOUD: Listen to the pobblebonk
The Tasmanian tree frog, Tasmanian froglet and the moss frog come out in full force after summer rains.

Also to be found in Tasmania are the spotted marsh frog and the pobblebonk frog.

Felicity Harvey from the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife wants to see more residents sharing their backyards with native frogs.

She said frogs are the best indicator of a healthy in ecosystem.

"They're very susceptible to changes in the environment," she said.

"They have porous skin so they absorb a lot of chemicals.

"In Tasmania they're surviving and they're doing pretty well, which is a good sign the ecosystem is doing well too."

She said the Tasmanian tree frog, which is mostly found on the west coast, is one of the more common species.

"There are more unusual frogs found in the alpine areas but in terms of your own backyard the brown tree frog is another common one," she said.

"The eastern banjo frog is also called the pobblebonk which comes from its call."

One West Hobart resident reported froglets appearing in a backyard pond in late December.

Ms Harvey urged other Tasmanians to take to their backyards with shovels.

"I can say first hand it is surprisingly easy," she said.

"I made one for my mother's garden a couple of weeks ago and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

"All frogs need moist environments because their skin is so porous.

"My mum actually reported frogs breeding in her pond four days after the pond was installed."

[eggs]

Was pretty chuffed to build a pond in our courtyard and with the help of a few tadpoles establish some frogs.
Their calls at night are a great source of pleasure for quite a few years now, but I don't know how long they will last, as the pond in an Adelaide backyard is still rather hostile for new tadpoles to establish.

[north-north-west]

I wish. Not really practical here.

[MickyB]

A lot of times you don't need to add tadpoles to your pond to get frogs. Build it and they will come.

[Moondog55]

We have a big round garden pond that was being used as a temporary shower during the renovations. I have plans to dig a hole in the front yard and make a permanent bog garden for the frogs
Not looking forward to digging the hole though, this soil is like reinforced concrete

[MickyB]

I re stocked my ponds last week by driving on a sealed country road after it rained at night. Brown tree frogs galore.

The laws might be different is Tasmania but I know in most states all frogs and tadpoles are protected and can't be taken from the wild.

Here is a frog that has found it's way into our garden. We have plenty of ferns so our fernery is constantly moist. We also have bromeliads which the frogs like to hide in. We always hear the frogs and often see them. We have never collected frogs or tadpoles from the wild but their population in the fernery is thriving.

There is a small chance that one or two or more frogs made their way to our home if they were hiding in plants that we have purchased from nurseries.

IMG_0906.jpg (63.59 KiB) Viewed 17126 times

[Overlandman]

I re stocked my ponds last week by driving on a sealed country road after it rained at night. Brown tree frogs galore.

The laws might be different is Tasmania but I know in most states all frogs and tadpoles are protected and can't be taken from the wild.

Here is a frog that has found it's way into our garden. We have plenty of ferns so our fernery is constantly moist. We also have bromeliads which the frogs like to hide in. We always hear the frogs and often see them. We have never collected frogs or tadpoles from the wild but their population in the fernery is thriving.

There is a small chance that one or two or more frogs made their way to our home if they were hiding in plants that we have purchased from nurseries.

IMG_0906.jpg

I caught six brown tree frogs
If you catch more than six you need a Herpetological permit which I do have for my tiger snakes.

[MickyB]

Thanks Overlandman. I actually looked it up after I posted and Tassie is different to most states. This link gives a guide for each state.

https://frogs.org.au/arc/legal.html

[DarrenM]

Ive noticed an abundance of frogs in Western Sydney this season, and probably more than I've seen in a couple of decades.

[RonK]

Unfortunately backyard water features are a definite no-no up here with Ross River and Dengue fever and now Zika virus in the country.

[ofuros]

Lost count of the number of cane toads in our backyard...and we don't even have a water feature !

[Moondog55]

Lost count of the number of cane toads in our backyard...and we don't even have a water feature !

Dried Frog Pills

[ofuros]

Googled...that's one way to get rid of the buggers.

and now back to enticing native frogs...

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[Giddy_up]

ofuros, Just a quick one in the toads. Detol mixed 50/50 in a pump spray will kill then very quickly. A quick squirt on the toad will result in paralysis in less than a minute or so with death following very soon after and you can just pick them up in a garbage bag in the morning early

I don't think it's harmful to any thing else that may come along either. Could be wrong on that but it sure is deadly on cane toads.


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[ofuros]

Thanks for the tip Giddy_up.


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[johnnymacfnq]

If you're going to spray them collect them in a bucket or container 1st. This will concentrate the chemical and also prevent needlessly killing other animals. The chemical in Dettol is just as deadly to frogs as it is to toads.

[Giddy_up]

I don't spray other animals and the toads are slow and easy targets. I pick them all up in the morning before sunrise as the thought of having 2-300 rotting frog carcasses around my home isn't very appealing.

As an aside, the only animal that I have seen to date that had mastered what to do with toads are the crows. Crowd have learnt that a dead toad can be flipped over and the belly torn open and eaten, thus removing the contact with the poison glands on the top side. That's obviously a learned skill and they have it down to a fine art down our way and are very proficient.


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[johnnymacfnq]

One of my dogs does the same thing.