Heather, try the link below for information on egg masses in the pond. Robyn has some information that maybe of interest to you. "Horton" Here is a link that might be useful: Eggs in pond

The fourth picture above is Yellow Wood Sorrel, "Oxalis stricta" a very common "weed" in any cultivated soil. Quite easily pulled by hand but also easily reseeded by birds. The first one could be a thistle and the third could well be spurge, a very prolific seed producer. Hand pulling, that gets all of the root, is the single best means of control. There is more and more evidence appearing that indicates any of the "weed" poisons are very detrimental to wee thingys such as toads and frogs and other of what is known as the lower forms of life.

I just grab 'em with a gloved hand. Then you put them in a sealable plastic bag and into the freezer. I once went on the warpath with bufo toads—caught & froze a bunch. I've stopped because I just don't have the heart to hunt them.

Cane toads lay eggs by the tens of thousands. The eggs are in a stringy-like gel that initially floats, then later sinks. The tadpoles are black with thin tails and like to get around in swarms. Don't know how they affect koi or goldfish, the climate here doesn't allow us to keep those. A lot of the native fish here seem to avoid them. Male toads set themselves up near a suitable pool of water and make a loud sound something like a motorbike. Females don't make any sound but are attracted to the call of the males. If you listen out at night you'll know if any want to get up to "funny business" in your pond. They mate in the water. If you google "cane toad call" you should get plenty of sound clips to listen to. They're easy to catch at night using a light. Shine the light in their eyes and with your other hand grab them around the hips and legs. They will often eject water (from the rear end), a defense mechanism to confuse predators. It's only water they've stored to keep them going through the day as they don't live in water. The toxic glands are swellings behind the head, easy to avoid touching. Although, I've also seen many of them exude toxins through the skin over a lot of the body. The toxin shouldn't have any effect on your skin, just don't lick your hands afterwards, LOL. But I thoroughly wash my hands after doing the rounds of my place collecting toads. Cane toads first turned up here round 10 years ago and I still continually search them out and dispose of them. For every toad I remove there's several native animals I've saved. In the 10 years I've caught several thousand. Handling them with bare hands hasn't had any effect on me, other than making me a toad catching expert. There's no effective predator (here anyway) so your native animals desperately need your help.