Willow Pond does have green frog tadpoles, thanks. And thanks for the advice about the bullfrogs, something I have already experienced. My last pond had leopard, green and bull frogs at first. Eventually all there was were two fat bullfrogs. After moving from Illinois where green frogs are plentiful to Nebraska where they seem to be missing, I needed to get some. They stay in/near the water and the leopard frogs wander far away, so they don't really compete for the same food. Plus they are very tame in my experience, sometimes eating crickets right out of my hand. I actually watched one of the big bullfrogs at my provious pond eat a sparrow that got too close! I will be happy when my shipment of 50 tads arrive.

clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings 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!

papnnana........I think nature waxes and wanes. I know I got water snakes in my little watergarden for a number of years, then nothing for the past 4-5 years. I try not to be happy about that! I've saved a couple frogs from the jaws of the snakes......but they need to eat too. It's hard to know who to cheer for! So.....you might be in one of those "not very many frogs around" years. Do you live in the city/suburbs/country? I live in the country and pretty close to a creek.....so I do wonder if that brings them closer. I never heard tree frogs until we had a couple little stocktank ponds......now there are a ton of them in the summer. I wonder if you have a pump in your pond? Sometimes I think they hear the water running and that attracts them. And of course, the kind of predators you have around can make a difference too. Let us know what kind of pond environment you have and maybe we can give you more suggestions. I found about 8 dead frogs in my inground 300 gallon stocktank one spring. I was soooo sad. I think I figured out that I was keeping it too warm all winter, with a deicer that was much too large for it. So now, I keep the pump running for as long as possible, and when it starts to get frozen (the pond and the pump), I put in a very small deicer.....just to keep a small hole open in the ice. I just keep my fingers crossed that there's enough oxygen in there to keep them alive until I can get the pump going again. This weekend it's supposed to be around 1 degree at night. :( What kind of frogs did you used to have? I have mostly tree frogs, then green, and once I had a couple bullfrogs who didn't stay around very long.............which was sorta okay with me. I love hearing their croaking......but I've heard they eat everything and everything, including small children. ;) I'm a big bird fan, so the last thing I want to see is a bullfrog eating a bird. But.......I guess that's just nature, but like I said, it's hard to know who to cheer for! Good luck with your frogs!

Hi all - wow thank you for the input! For some reason a few of these comments never made it to me via email, so sorry for the delay in response. CHAS: I think I'm going to just go with a shorter stream, which will cut down on the height a great deal. I will wrap it around the pond (instead of going straight up the sloped ground) - which will make the head height less and also keep the flow calmer for froggies. I also decided that I will focus the main pond on fish; and I'm going to put a little, shallower pond tucked along the creek which will be just for frogs - with a pump maybe, but no filter or anything (my current frog pond has just a pump/waterfall, no filter, and the frogs are very happy and healthy there). Hopefully the frogs will natuarlly choose the little pond instead of the bigger pond, and even if they lay eggs in the lower pond, I can just move them up to the froggie pond. I at least will feel like I've done my part to provide a safe haven for them :) RSINGLEY: I had read a similar recommendation elsewhere of putting mesh and other media around the pump - I like the idea, though I do wonder what the negative effect of not filtering the larger particles will be? (seems silly to get a debris handling pump and then restrict the debris from getting in, but alas, the dilemma of tadpole lovers). FROGMAN4: You'd be right on the calculation but it's not all at a 3.5' depth, and it's an oval pond. If you picture an upside down oval wedding cake: the biggest layer is 16x13 but it's only about a half-foot deep (it's a rock shelf). The second layer is 14x11 and is 1 foot deep. The third layer is 11x8 and is 2 feet deep (so total depth at the bottom will be 3.5). I calculated each "layer" out as separate pond volumes; using the oval pond forumla of L x W x D x 6.7, the top layer is 696 gallons, 2nd layer is 1031, 3rd layer is 1179 = 2906 gallons. The third (bottom) layer will have sloped walls, too, which actually will cut down the gallons, but I'm fine with over-estimating. I have wavered back and forth a hundred times about going with a skimmer filter as opposed to an external mechanical filter. I still haven't hit the "place order" button on my pump/filter order, but I made up my mind last night that I was going to go with a Laguna max flow pump (2000 gal), pressurized filter (3200), and also have a waterfall bio filter at the top. Holding off on the drain for now, but I saw some that I can add later if the need warrants. Chose the external filter instead of skimmer because I didn't want to have to do 2 pumps, and I just felt that not having the pump at the bottom (which it wouldn't be if I put the pump in the skimmer) wasn't the best idea... which was my deciding factor. I hope what I'm choosing will be sufficient... weeks of research got me here, and I'm ready to just install all this already! :) MEGANMCA: Thanks for that link - it's very helpful! I did read that pipe diameter is important - I'm going to go with 1.5" and hope that's sufficient. My sister just installed the same pump/filter combo I'm using with 1.5" and it's a beatuful flow. Her waterfall is a little lower than mine, but I think it will suffice... If not, can add a 2nd pump but hoping I don't have to do that. Thank you all so much for the input - and as always open to any other thoughts/suggestions!