we recently moved and have a pond in our garden,we want to fill it in but there are loads of frogs in there!im terrified of them and they jump all around the garden!!!is there any way we can get rid of them without them coming to any harm?thanks!
Why do you want to fill in the pond? Have you young children who might fall in? If you havent you might want to consider the benefits of keeping it.
Frogs rely heavily on garden ponds- there is not a lot of breeding space for them in towns these days. There will be a whole lot of frogs in them for the next few weeks as the breeding cycle gets under way. Once thats over you will find the number of frogs reduces significantly. If you must fill it in wait a wee while til most have departed. Apart from frogs a pond is a big attraction for wildlife- for drinking and bathing in the case of birds. For breeding in the case of a whole raft of insects.
If you want to get rid of the pond then I would puncture the liner and the water will gradually leak away into the ground. That should turn the frogs away and then you can fill it in.
Frogs like many creatures always return to the place they were born to breed so even if you drain it you will probably have to put up with them coming back for some time looking for home, so as burnhal says if you have no specific reason why not keep the pond and enjoy the wild life it attracts.When the frogs have bred if you remove the as much frogspawn as possible and transfer it to a local lake the tadpoles which hatch will return there and eventually the numbers coming to your pond will reduce.
Why on earth do you want to get rid of them. I would be hightly honoured if I had them in my garden. As to being frightened of them, they can't hurt you, can they. Just leave them to enjoy your pond and I'm sure in time you will learn to enjoy them. Frogs have declined in the last few years, probably because of declining habitats - and people like you. Live and let live.
not only are they harmless (so long as you don't corner one, they go straight for the throat), they eat lots of pesky insects and are generally regarded as a gardener's friend.
I made a pond last year and put some tadpoles in from a friends pond. Within a month I had newts, dragonflies, grown up frogs and plants bringing the pond alive. My biggest regret is I didn't do it when my daughter was younger - she is 14 now and will still spend time by the pond watching the life. If I had done it when she was 6 or 7 she would have learnt loads and had an interest in wild life. Leave it!
Ok ok!!i know i should be grateful for having them,we have a dog who,in only a matter of time will jump in as he has a keen interest in them and i didnt want him drowning or anything(,hes a bulldog so not brill at keeping afloat!)I will leave the pond and hopefully they will hop off gradually and i will remove any frogspawn next time.thanks guys for your answers!
Glad you're going to keep your pond as I think you will actually get quite a lot of pleasure out of it. and actually after a while you will find the frogs become quite tame. You might even start to enjoy them and you'll probably have newts as well.
I understand your anxiety about your dog jumping / falling in, but if you can get some wire mesh netting with holes big enough for frogs to climb in and out of and anchor it around the edges of the water, this should keep him safe.
frogs are disgusting,we get them in our pond every year,so we put chicken wire over the top and they bounce on it quite funny any way the frogs cant get in the pond and you can easily net the spawn out. and whilst the frogs are mating they are easy to get hold of and tranfer to a bucket.then wot we do is pound them with bricks that way you can gaurantee they wont be back the following year. ONLY JOKING we take them and there babies to the nearest stream.