I also have a frog that appeared as a baby last spring and as of today, 12-30-12, he is still there. it is a small round plastic tub that holds about 5 gallons of water and is about10 inches deep. I have a heater that has kept the water right at 40 degrees. The other tanks that make up the garden have frozen. This is a green frog, don't think it is a bull frog. I have gotten frogs from somewhere over the past few years. This past summer,I had 3. The other two smarter ones left but this one stayed. This pond has a lot of dead leaves on the bottom and also a thick patch of green moss that is still alive and just barley pokes out above the water. I saw "Fred" just a few minutes ago with his head and nose up out of the water so I know he is not hibernating. I bought some aquarium frog pellets in case he should eat since he is active but I bet that was a waste of money. I feel better buying it anyway. Wonder if he will make it over the winter....if he does I wonder what effect not hibernating over the winter will have on him. There is absolutely no other water I know of around me, it is a mystery each year where these come from....several have been itty bitty but some come back a couple years then I don't see them anymore and a baby takes its place. I am attaching a picture from today Am I fighting a losing battle?

Frogs will do what frogs will do! You can place a basin of sand for them to lay in, on the bottom of your pond. You can weight down a layer or two of quilt batting for them to snuggle into. Frogs breathe through their skin, whilst under water or during during hibernation, extracting oxygen right out of the water they are surrounded by. They just push themselves into the mulm or sand or batting and rest there. Bullfrogs and Green Frogs, in particular, do this. Some small frogs, such as Leopard Frogs, slip into folds in the liner or into the plant pots and survive. In the end it is the frog will decide where it wants to hibernate the winter out. Some make good choices, some do not! Some make it through winter, some do not! "Horton"

They've been croaking here more this week, but I was hearing a few in Feb. and I saw the first eggs a few weeks ago. They went through a freeze, so I don't know if that affected them or not...time will tell. I don't think there will be as many as the last couple of years since we kept the water from collecting on top of the pool this winter. We heard some on and off throughout the winter. I noticed the Indian Plums were starting to bloom in the woods.

They are just there to have their meals. It will be irritating but they don't do any harm to you. I used to do the same, spray chemicals or bug sprays, but one day my daughter thought me something which I forgotten long back. She is studying in Sunnybrook School in Ontario, and they had a class one day about the frogs, tree frogs etc. That day she made me realize that these frogs and toads are important for proper bio balance. Stop hurting them and try simple steps like those mentioned by Walker.