I have bought bull frog tadpoles from a mail order place. Kept them in an aquarium in the barn. When I built the pond I put them in there and never saw them again. But I do have frogs now, think they came from somewhere near by. One day my son found one in the barn and thought that I had left one behind when I moved the poles to the pond. I think he had just gone back for a visit. Even though there are lots of spiders and bugs in the barn, there wouldn't have been any water for him. About a week ago when my daughter was cleaning my skimmer filters one of my lady frogs was in there. DD thought that she had hopped out, but hadn't. She sat one of the baskets down on her and I found her a few days later squished. I felt so bad for Goliath, thought he looked so sad. Then last night I went out and discovered another huge female in the pond. Either he had several or he has a new one. In the sitting position he is every bit as big as my hand. He is a beauty. Heard him hurmmping away last night. I haven't had any toads or tree frogs in the pond yet at all this year. Glenda

Well, I was looking and I found they have toad eggs for sale too. Going to be calling them tomorrow for sure.

Hi Rita, When my youngest Daughter was in the 3rd grade, all the 3rd grade classes grew tadpoles for a lesson. After they were finished, I brought the tadpoles home & put them in our pond. They grew into frogs & stayed about 4 years. They did not show back up last season, so I don't know what happened to them. Maybe the winter was too cold....anyway they must have been all males because we never had tadpoles. I have the same problem as you. No Frogs ever & no Toads this year. Last year we had toads everywhere. I think when people have their yards sprayed & fertilized by lawn companies that contributes to the demise of the little critters. My yard is totally organic & I haven't seen a single toad this year. I resorted to bringing tadpoles from my nephews swimming pool to put in my pond but so far I haven't seen any frogs. Good luck with your search.
Dianne

I am just not sure how difficult it is to hatch the frog or toad eggs and to keep the tadpoles. That is one of the reasons I really want to get my pond going, I could put the tadpoles in there rather than having to keep them inside in an aquarium.

I had too much to do today so I never got to call the tadpole place but I want those eggs or tadpoles, whichever I decide upon.

Ok, so I called Wards Bio Supply. They ship the live stuff Monday and Tuesday but I was too late for Tuesday. Just as well because it gives me time to set up my pump/filter system.

Here's my order-
3 Red Spotted Newts
6 Tree Frogs
3 Crayfish
200 Toad Eggs
50 Leopard Frog Tadpoles
Tadpole Food

Ok, really stupid questions coming here.

When I set up the aquarium for the toad eggs, do I need to put the areator aquarium pump in there also? I know I need one for the tadpoles I am getting or can I put those tadpoles diectly into my stocktank outside?

What do crayfish eat? Guess I should have thought about that before I ordered them :-))

Diet
Omnivorous-fish, shrimp, meat, vegetables (frozen peas, boiled zucchini, carrots, etc.), sinking pellets, table scraps. Don't feed too much fat. Adults do not need a lot of protein, and should be fed primarily vegetables. I feed mostly frozen peas, some Tetra Tabimin pellets, carrots, and they catch the occasional fish. They also like the crickets that drown in my toad tank (the toads won't eat dead crickets).

Since they like vegetables they will eat many plants. They will devour plants that nothing else will eat, like Java Moss. They will uproot the plants they don't eat. I have lots of floating Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) in my tank. They don't eat that too fast (it grows fast), and they like the cover above them.

Rita, depending on how large your fish are, they could become crayfish dinner. A very long time ago when we had red-eared sliders in an outside pool, we put small minnows & crayfish in for them to eat. The crayfish would catch the minnows & eat them. Are you planning on putting the crayfish in with the other critters? If so you might want to re-think.
Good Luck
Dianne

Yes, I was going to put the crayfish in the stocktank :-((

They are small (about 3 inches but so are my fish). I do not want my new pet fish to become dinner!!!

Maybe its time to have some indoor aquarium pets instead.

I was ordering frogs and just thought the crayfish were so neat. So much for the sanity of impulse buying.

Been there done that.....too many times. LOL They are neat, & I thought they were scavengers & would keep everything neat & tidy...until I saw one with a minnow in its pincher. Maybe the bigger fish would know to stay away....just a thought. I now have about 100 Tadpoles of unknown heritage 2 water striders, & several dragonfly nymphs in my pond. My son brought them from his cousins defunct swimming pool. A rescue before the pool gets drained. I hope they survive.
By the way.....who said Ponders are sane?????

I thought the crawfish were scavengers also, that is why I bought them.

Tomorrow morning my order of tadpoles, toad eggs and whatnots should arrive. I did receive the shipping notice.

I am going to put the tree frogs in a tank with a waterbowl and hope that they breed and lay some eggs.

I read the messages here with people having toad eggs and frogs and such all over and here I have none at all and am having to resort to inventive measures to get my own.

Can I put the tadpoles directly into the stocktank pond outside?

When I get frog eggs in my pond, they are always long black strings....looks like small black pearls string together. I always leave them in the pond, and a few days later find hundreds of tadpoles. I have never removed the eggs or the tadpoles...I know nothing about frogs other than my experiences with them in my pond. My Koi will not eat them either. I have always heard that the eggs need to be strung around plants, not laying on the ground...but that could be a myth. I do know that if I take everything out of the pond, the toads do not lay eggs...they wait until I put the plants back in...not sure if that is just safety precaution to hide the eggs, or if they really have to string the eggs around the plants. Just something to consider...to help you out....Amanda

My tadpoles and toad eggs and stuff came today. I know I was asking about if I could just put them out in the pond but as soon as they arrived I could answer my own question. The tadpoles are teeny, tiny, small spects. I have them set up in a small aquarium with my airstone going.

I ordered food for tadpoles that they sell too so I should be ok. I figgure I could maybe put out some in the pond when they grow big and are near ready to turn to frogs. They are leopard frogs.

I also got toad eggs which I have in another aquarium.

I forgot to say I got the crayfish too. They were supposed to be a bunch of three but there are five and they are pretty big. Bigger than any of my fish. In fact when I look at them, I think I should be boiling them up for dinner not keeping them for pets. No way are they going in the stocktank. Needless to say I have another aquarium going.

My tree frogs are also in an aquarium and my newts in another aquarium. I seem to have acquired quite afew new pets.

Rita, Sounds like you have your hands full. Good luck trying to figure out who lives where. LOL I am also envious of everyone who has frogs & toads. So far this year there are no toads here, but all my neighbors use chemical fertilizers & pesticides so I think that kills all the frogs & toads. I'm hopeful that the tadpoles my son got will survive.
Good Luck
Dianne

The Toad eggs came in this grossly stinky water that has really smelled up the house. I have no choice, I can't put them outside as I want to keep them fairly warm so that they grow quickly and hatch.

The frog tadpoles are growing some and its only been afew days. I hope they grow fast and I hope both the frogs and toads stay here as I hate to have to do this again next spring.

Please, make sure the frogs, toads and anything else you may buy online are native to your area before releasing them outdoors in your pond.

Non native animals, even frogs and toads can cause big problems to native wildlife.

Ponders should be helping native froggies not importing non native killers.

Well, I made sure I bought Leopard Frog tadpoles native here. I do not think BullFros are native to Long Island but every pond place that sells tadpoles in the spring here has the bullfrog tadpoles. So people are buying them and raising them around here.

Unfortunately, I did not do very well with my tadpoles that I got. I don't understand as I followed directions but they keep dying off. This morning I took the last five left and put them in the stocktank pond outside (I had them inside in an aquarium with airhose). They were much smaller than the size I had planned to transer them but I figgure they have a better chance outside as I am not doing well with them inside.

Meantime on Wednesday I had ordered ten Leopard Frog Tadpoles (at $1.99 each) at Living Aquatic so figgured they must be bigger than the specks I bought and mistakenly killed off. They came today and they are much bigger, big enough they they are safe for sure in the pond. They are already out there.

Hopefully from all this I will get some frogs and some will hopefully stick around!

I just saw one of tadpoles today and its gotten much bigger. They hide in the parrot feather so they are just about impossible to see, they blend in so well.

I hope they don't catch whatever fuzz or icks that the fish currently have.

Bullfrogs are native to Long Island NY. Good luck with your tadpoles.

Well, I hope some of the tadpoles make it.

My toad eggs rotted and turned to mush. I don't know what I did wrong :-((

My wife's friend has a couple of crazy kids, so I just gave them each a buck and said I wanted some frog eggs. They each came back in no time with HUGE jars stuffed right to the top with eggs! I put about half in (because there were just too many) and took the rest down to a stream that runs nearby and dumped them in a boggy area.
It took about a week for them to hatch, but when they did it was like popcorn going off! All my gold fish never bothered the eggs a bit, but they sure fed well for a few days on tadpoles. I don't think a single tad made it out of the killing zone. The fish just hovered in a circle around the eggs, and as soon as a tad popped out....BAM! Never stood a chance.

I always dip the frog eggs out of the stocktank with the fish and put them in a 20 gallon tub to keep them safe. The fish will eat them all.

They will eat the tadpoles also.

When you put them in the 20 gallon tub, do you have a pump or an airstone in there?

I had a pond with goldfish for years with no frogs. Built ponds for mini waterlilies with no fish and bang, had native tree frogs almost immediately.

Where is the place to get the larger leopard toad tadpoles?
I need to add frogs to my pond and just don't have the time to go pond hunting for them

Wow...wow...I don't know where to begin here...As an amphibian biologist this thread is absolutely jaw-dropping, sorry guys.

All of you are probably unaware of the huge problems amphibians are facing right now due to foreign pathogens being spread by humans. Amphibians are declining worldwide - its not false alarm, they are there one year, gone the other. A lot of this problem is due to people inadvertently spreading lethal pathogens from one place to another - the two most notorious ones are Batrachochytridium dendrobatidis (called "Chytrid" for short) and Ranavirus. These are decimating frog populations worldwide - especially in northern latitudes and high elevations. This stuff is highly contagious and is spread via shoes, nets, other frogs and once in an area lives on indefinitely in the soil.

Going into the genetics area - buying animals from non-local sources and releasing them into your ponds...My god...sorry, but this is ridiculous. People are complaining about taking leopard frogs from NC (where Carolina Biological Supply is) and having them die when they get to NY ... just because you have northern leopard frogs and red-spotted newts in your state doesn't mean that those animals will survive there. Lets put this is plant-terms - red maples (Acer rubrum) range from Maine to Florida. Do you really think that a red maple from Florida transplanted in Maine will thrive, or even survive?? How about vice versa?? There are local genetics that should be preserved in your area - that is why those animals are able to persist there. Assuming some of these animals you bring in survive and breed with the local animals, the offspring will not be as adapted to your particular region as the native ones. Here's an example - Gray treefrogs (Hyla versicolor/chrysocelis) have a huge range - animals at southern populations will breed earlier than animals at northern populations because they have evolved to not have to deal with late hard freezes that could kill the eggs for that year. You bring in animals that have evolved to breed earlier in the season (say, April instead of June) and you have a hard frost or freeze that destroys all the eggs. Just touching on hibernation ... even though they are the same species, do you think that frogs that are used to hibernating in North Carolina will successfully hibernate in New York?? Geesh...

Alright, now to touch on the legality issues of this. It is ILLEGAL to release pets into the wild. If you bought those animals, they are considered pets - your property - and releasing them into an area where they can escape into the wild is illegal. In most states the regulations state that animals cannot be displaced more than 50 feet from their point of capture. Now I realize that everyone moves stuff around, but this is truly for the protection of those animals in the long-run - but there are things that could be done....I'll discuss them here:

Alright - you are too impatient for frogs to come on their own volition. DON'T BUY ANIMALS AND RELEASE THEM - YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY HAVE COME IN CONTACT WITH. Here's what you can do - drive around nearby, visit garden centers or farm ponds or wet fields - or even better, visit a construction site or golf course pond. Deep tire ruts made my earthmoving equipment are favorite sites for amphibians to breed in - visit some newly developing LOCAL areas and move those tadpoles from the construction site - they won't get plowed over, you get your native, LOCAL amphibians. I have done this myself here and in other states - granted I've done it under permit and its technically called either "repatriation" or "translocation" - but in all honesty no one is going to go after you for moving tadpoles from a construction site or golf course pond to your pond.

Alright - now for ANOTHER thing - how many of you have FISH in your ponds? Fish and amphibians DO NOT MIX. I can send any of you countless papers and accounts supporting that. Very few amphibians can live and breed alongside fish. Think of a big pond or lake stocked with fish - what amphibians do you see there? Bullfrogs, maybe green frogs and toads. Go to vernal pool or fishless pond - the diversity literally goes up by as many as a dozen species of amphibians in most areas in the East. Fish are huge predators on eggs, larvae, and even adult amphibians - if you have fish in your pond, no wonder you don't have any amphibians there.

Lastly, about bullfrogs - how many of you know that bullfrogs have been introduced throughout the world and are a pest species that is causing huge ecological problems everywhere? In California, bullfrogs were introduced thanks to people putting them in their ponds, now as a result they are eating native species of frogs (california red-legged frog, yellow-legged frogs, arroyo toads) which are now considered threatened or endangered species. They are even eating hatchlings of the Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata), another threatened species. Bullfrogs are opportunistic animals that cause SEVERE ecological problems in area where they do not belong.

That said - sorry for the rant, but you all seriously need to do some research on this stuff before you try and manipulate your ecosystem. Take responsibility for your actions and do your homework. DO NOT BUY ANIMALS TO RELEASE INTO YOUR PONDS - IT IS ILLEGAL, UNETHICAL, AND COULD RESULT IN IRREPARABLE DAMAGE TO YOUR LOCAL ECOSYSTEM.

~Mike

Pervinpatty-
Are you aware that Northern Leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) are not native to California and it is illegal to release them into the wild? California has very strict regulations governing this sort of act.

What I said earlier - DO YOUR RESEARCH - northern leopard frogs come from cold-winter areas with abundant moisture yearround - you think they'd do well in California? Geesh...

Since you're in California, I'm going to make note of another problem, thanks to people releasing animals into the wild. California Tiger salamanders are a candidate for the Federal Endangered Species list - they are in sharp decline and are only found in California. Recently they are having another thing to fight - hybridization with non-native tiger salamanders that people have released. The western tiger salamander (Ambystoma mavortium) does NOT live in california, but does well there and is surviving alongside the California Tiger Salamander well enough to hybridize with them. The problem? Hybrids are afforded NO protection by law, as such former ponds that held pure California Tiger Salamanders and were protected have LOST THEIR PROTECTION thanks to the introduced animals hybridizing with the natives. Having lost their protection, those ponds are now opened up to being plowed over...and they have been.

Hopefully you all can understand my immense frustration with this issue...

Mikey we have 51 indigenous species of frogs and BOTH the northern and southern leopard are on that list. I'm not an idiot if I was I would buy bullfrogs jeez. Another thing, I live in the delta region which is wet as could be, we rain sometimes a month straight and flood regularly then freeze in the winter. So maybe before you jump down someones throat YOU should do YOUR research.

PervinPatty -
Obviously you didn't do YOUR research on this subject. You undoubtedly got your information from the following website:

www.californiaherps.com

This is an excellent resource, and I know some of the people who have put that whole thing together. You obviously didn't look at the species list closely enough, as you will see that the southern leopard frog (Rana utricularia) is an INTRODUCED species - that means it is not native and doesn't belong there!

While northern leopard frogs once had a few spots in northerneastern California where they were present, it is likely that they are EXTIRPATED (that means they are gone) from the state now, as it also says on that site and if you actually took the time to read scientific journals (as I do) you'll see that repeated efforts to find relict populations have failed. Also, you'll notice that northern leopard frogs never ranged into Central california, where you say you live...so again, that goes back to my saying you shouldn't be bringing in nonnative or nonlocal species.

Obviously you didn't read my original post - do you really think that a northern leopard frog (or leopard toad, as you put it, haha) with its origins in North Carolina would survive in your region? I doubt it...not to mention the fact that it is ILLEGAL.

You tried using the word "indigenous" as well - you have to use that word with some measure of scale - there are lots of anurans indigenous to California - but how about YOUR LOCAL area? I guess by your rules, you could take a Couch's spadefoot toad from extreme southeastern CA and put it in your pond...because its indigenous to California, right? Or maybe a Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea), because they are indigenous to the United State, and they sure are pretty!

Again, do your research, and if you're too lazy to go find some construction sites or golf courses nearby you, then tough luck. Don't get pissy at me for advising and educating you about the problems that could be caused by your actions.

~Mike

Mike's right about importing non-local critters for outdoor ponds. When Canada geese were reintoduced to the Chesapeake Bay area as an effort to booster local populations, the fish and wildlife folks used Canada geese from the Midwest. Unfortunately, those geese aren't so fond of migrating. So now offspring from the midwest geese have taken up permanent residence on golf courses, parks and private ponds and are fouling the water and grounds while offspring from the original local population still migrate north each summer.

Goes the same for plants, too. If there's even a remote chance of it being able to survive local winters, please don't use it. Purple loosestrife "escaped" from gardens and is now choking the wetlands and marshes of Eastern US, especially New England. Worse-it out competes the native cattail-an important food source for many of the local waterfowl and mammals.

BTW, I built my 500G goldfish pond this spring and 6 young frogs have already shown up. If they haven't come to your ponds, there's probably a good reason-that the frog viruses or pesticides/herbicides killed off the resident population. The same agent will probably kill off any introduced ones, too, either directly or by eliminating their food source. I doubt I'll have all 6 frogs for long since a snake has recently made a couple visits and appears to be sizing them up for a meal. Just as well, since my pond isn't big enough to support 6 adults so they'd either have to find another home or starve.

Mike, great post and information.
There are too many people come to this forum, looking for short cuts.

They may as well ask, right at the beginning,
"How can I building a pond, have beautifully clean, clear water and stock it with every aquatic creature I can find or purchase, without taking the time to do the slightest bit of research?"
"And I want all this in a month two at the very at least!"
I hope some of them take the time to read ALL the very important information you have submitted.
"Horton"

Where is the website that sends the frog eggs or tadpoles by mail in order???

Horton and Riverspots -
Thanks for the kind words - I'm really glad that you share my views on this issue, as I've run into some people who certainly didn't! For the people who just want everything immediately, it reminds me of the old phrase..."Rome wasn't built in a day" ... same goes for ponds, gardens, or any work of excellence, give them time...

Futureprodigy - please read the preceding posts - I think you will find them helpful. Also, please look at the response I made to your post on this forum.

~Mike

I guess the part of the old proverb....." and some fell upon stony ground...." is apropos, Mike.
Pity!
"Horton"

hahaha, how true! Thanks for that Horton - you gave me a much needed laugh! :)

~Mike

wHO SAID ANYTHING BOUT GETTING TRYING BUILD A POND IN A DAY....I WANT A COUPLE OF TADPOLE EGGS TO PUT IN AN AQUIRIUM FOR MY SON. TO SHOW HIM THE LIFE CYCLE OF A FROG. WHATS THE HARM IN THAT. THE NEAREST POND IS OVER 2 HOURS AWAY AND I CANT EVEN GURANTEE THAT IT HAS TADPOLES. WOW SOME PEOPLE ARE TOO MUCH...I ASKED FOR HELP...DONT NEED TO BE CRITISED!!

futureprodigy,

What did you intend to do with the adult frogs after your demonstration is over? Putting eggs into an indoor aquarium isn't the issue-it's releasing the eggs, tadpoles, or adults outdoors where they can directly or indirectly harm the native flora and fauna. But if you are planning to show your son how to prepare cuisses de grenouille, then bon appetit!

Hi all,
I have a question! I have an inground pool that gets frogs in it every year. They are usually there all season. This year I have found so many dean in my pool? Also my children foound a bunch od clear jelly type eggs by my flpwer bed. I have taken them up and placed them in a cup becasue they will get crushed where they are. They are clear, could they be frog eggs? They must be only a day or so old.
I do have a Planet Frog habitat that I have yet to order tadpoles for. Should I place then in there? I do not know what to do? place them in water? They were slightly "buried" under a patch of grass, I do have inground sprinklers so it is usually moist there. I normally do not remove animals from their environments but these would be killed for sure.

I am trying to understand something here..Is there a natural regional fence or border that life cannot cross over? When frogs hop, or birds fly, are they instinctively stifled to travel only so far? Like tornadoes that pick up critters in ponds or lakes and drops them in other areas, does the tornado know what areas it can drop those creatures, or does those creatures know how to just go back where the tornadoes picked them up from? When birds drop fish from one lake to another or host insects or parasites, does the birds know to wipe their feet off or shake their feathers before entering another water hole, pond, or lake?

We are told fire ants were entered through our port here from banana shipments. I haven't thought about them only staying around this area..Do the ants know not to go anywhere else? If they aren't suppose to go anywhere else, they weren't listening.

Let's talk about people now..There is migration and immigration, borders, signs, and fences.There are governments, laws, wars, genocide, and all sorts of stuff to stop people from going places, and yet, there are all sorts of people all over the world.

Naturally speaking, I don't understand blaming people for critters wandering. Don't "life" naturally roam on its own anyway? We have one true single territory.."EARTH".

(yes, I do understand your argument about native creatures being eaten up by non native, or making mutts out of relics..and plants and critters causing havoc to ecosystems and other areas..If it was humans we were talking about, it would sound to me as if some were so far as being separatists, segregationists, or down right racists..lol)

I repeat, I am not a scientist. I am just perceptive, that's all.. : ) This is after all, a FORUM. : )

Michelle, I believe it's about perpetuating the problem. It's not the critters who are at fault. I don't believe anyone here was blaming them for wandering.

It's the humans who transport them to where they have no place being. We were given larger brains for a reason. It's easy to rationalize when we really want something. But if everyone would look at the big picture, they might see that introducing certain non-natives could potentially cause harm to certain natives. To me, that just isn't morally right.

Brenda

Keeping on this subject..Is it just my sensitive nose, or is it just that no one has mentioned that toad eggs or toad eggs "goop" has a very, very, strong, profound, horrible and grotesque, disgusting, odor. It's a gagging smell to me. I know when there are toad eggs around just by walking around my pond. That smell is noticed very easily and I can stop where the smell is coming from and look at the top or under a plant and find them. I can't imagine smelling them coming out of the mail box after being in transit through the heat of the summer and the mail. Yuck and EWWE. I would plug my nose before opening mail with toad eggs in it.. : )

Gardenweb is a wonderful place, where young & old, experienced & inexperienced persons, share & learn an enormous amount of most helpful tips, hints, & tricks of the trade. It is a most appreciated & valuable resource.

Education is GREAT! ... however ... 'Battering-Ram Education' is better off left elsewhere than Gardenweb. (Best to say it in a considerate manner, or not at all ... & save the excessive 'dart throwing' for your 'local' tournaments).

Sincerely,
Lover of many Critters, ... especially friendly little 'Tree Frogs' & of course ... way too cool 'Bullfrogs'.

Different schools of thought on invasive species. some so called scientists are anything but, they are more activists than scientist. species die out and have died out since the dawn of the planet. and other species have changed and adapted in yet other species. you can waste a lot of energy trying to save species A and think you are doing something important, but in reality your not so much. everything natural isn't necessarily good just because a storm spreads monkeys into a different region doesn't make it better then a human spreading them into the same region. Thats how I see it anyways, and real science and scientists observe, not judge and interfere. thank you introduced species for allowing me to get a good black angus, or kobe beef steak for a reasonable price. and thank the tinkerers for allowing us to have a full ear of corn. and yes cool frog in my pond.

Bullfrogs and Red Eared Slider Turtles would never have spread West of the Rocky Mountains if it weren't for people deliberately letting pets loose. Both are causing extinctions in AZ, CA, OR, HI and WA of native species. Both are causing thousands of taxpayer dollars to be spent on trying to control their populations and having pond owners continuing to import and release them doesn't help.

I've read similar threads on several pond boards where people refuse to wait to see if native frogs will show up and import frogs from other parts of the US instead. Not only do many die but many do escape. I had to quit one board because I couldn't stand reading about all the people swapping invasive plants and animals illegally without a care for their local ecosystems and I'm not a biologist.

For someone who is a biologist and who works to save threatened populations of native frogs and turtles reading this or any other thread about casual importation of non native species would be horrifying.

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Posted by mikeygraz 5 Omaha, NE (My Page) on Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 15:43
PervinPatty -
Obviously you didn't do YOUR research on this subject. You undoubtedly got your information from the following website:
www.californiaherps.com

This is an excellent resource, and I know some of the people who have put that whole thing together. You obviously didn't look at the species list closely enough, as you will see that the southern leopard frog (Rana utricularia) is an INTRODUCED species - that means it is not native and doesn't belong there!

While northern leopard frogs once had a few spots in northerneastern California where they were present, it is likely that they are EXTIRPATED (that means they are gone) from the state now, as it also says on that site and if you actually took the time to read scientific journals (as I do) you'll see that repeated efforts to find relict populations have failed. Also, you'll notice that northern leopard frogs never ranged into Central california, where you say you live...so again, that goes back to my saying you shouldn't be bringing in nonnative or nonlocal species.

Obviously you didn't read my original post - do you really think that a northern leopard frog (or leopard toad, as you put it, haha) with its origins in North Carolina would survive in your region? I doubt it...not to mention the fact that it is ILLEGAL.

You tried using the word "indigenous" as well - you have to use that word with some measure of scale - there are lots of anurans indigenous to California - but how about YOUR LOCAL area? I guess by your rules, you could take a Couch's spadefoot toad from extreme southeastern CA and put it in your pond...because its indigenous to California, right? Or maybe a Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea), because they are indigenous to the United State, and they sure are pretty!

Again, do your research, and if you're too lazy to go find some construction sites or golf courses nearby you, then tough luck. Don't get pissy at me for advising and educating you about the problems that could be caused by your actions.

~Mike
An old post but worth repeating!

I made a pond out of a 60 gallon very old and well soaked wine barrel. I have plants in it from a pond about 100 yards away. I just brought a frog from the pond to my pond and he took off. I feel terrible he might not make it through the brambles and redwoods back to his original pond. I have a few tadpoles from the same pond, but again, they will probably smell the bigger pond and take off ASAP. Lesson learned, no more frog catching for me:-(