The fish ate them !! Our pond has two small ponds above a large pond. We always have hundreds of tadpoles in the upper two ponds. Our fish are in the lower,large pond. The fish will spend hours each day waiting below waterfall for tadpoles to come tumbling out of the upper ponds. Guess what, we have never had tadpoles in the lower pond where the fish live.

Considering frogs and toads very much like mosquitos and mosquito larvae as a food source, what most likely happened in Kathy Durrum's situtaion is that by introducing mosquito dunks and killing the larvae they removed the food source for the frogs which caused a large number of them to starve to death. Removing the dunks allowed the mosquito population to proliferate which then also allowed the predators of mosquitos, frogs and toads, to also proliferate. Any time you remove or reduce the amount of an animal from an environment that is a small ecosystem you're doing damage to that entire system, not just the one specific animal in it.

I think you should rethink this issue. If there are any native frogs or toads in your area they will find your pond. Just be sure to understand that what these little critters need is not only a pool for breeding purposes but an adequate food supply and a habitat that will be comparable to the one they were borned into. Another reason for letting the animals find you is that if you want to "take" any amphibian or reptile in the state you will need a permit from the California Department of Fish and Game. Click here to DFG The most important thing I need to stress is the development of suitable habitat that includes your pond for allowing amphibians to exist within. Once this is done and the habitat is supporting an adequate amount of both flying and crawling insects then you may find yourself with other life forms besides frogs. Here is a link that may interest you: California herps Here is a link that might be useful: California frogs and toads

I'm not entirely sure, but I'd venture to guess that's a gray tree frog. I think the Cope's tree frog is more southern. They're nocturnal and are rarely found on the ground except for mating season.