# Frog question



## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

My railroad includes a very small pond that is home to about 5 fish currently. Over the years I have had success watching the fish population explode to alarming rates. I've also had my share of disasters wiping out the school when a heater failed and again when the pond was overtaken by algae when I was away on vacation. The current school of five doesn’t seem overly interested in propagating. I'm not bothered by that. The pond is small enough that five healthy guys are amply interesting. To our surprise and pleasure, this year we have a new resident to the pond. A frog has been seen regularly sunning itself on a lily pad and on an edging rock. I'm assuming there are enough bugs and such around to support the frog and the fish. I'm curious though, if the fish were to lay eggs, will the frog eat them?
As a side note it was fun to actually see a frog on a lily pad. I'm not sure I've ever seen that in the wild and wondered if it wasn't just a poetic notion.

Thanks
Robert


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Robert;
You may want to check with a biology teacher or a forest ranger for those facts. Since your thread has already had 42 hits and no replies, I am guessing that our bunch tends to know more about the frogs in switches than a frog in a pond.
















Best wishes,
David Meashey


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

The fish are more likely to eat frog eggs, and tadpoles, 
than frogs are likely to eat fish eggs, or baby fish. 
I dont think frogs generally eat things that are under water, so fish eggs aren't in great danger from the frog. 
but if you are concerned about fish eggs, and baby fish, the frog is the least of your worries.. 

The biggest danger to baby fish isnt the frog..its the big fish in the pond. 
the fish will gobble up their own offspring like crazy. 
Not much you can do about it, except let nature take its course.. 
last fall I was surprised to find 3 baby goldfish in my pond! they came indoors, for the winter, with the adult fish, 
but I had to separate them for a few months until they were too big to be eaten.. 
3 survived in the pond until fall..I suspect at least 97 of their siblings didn't.. 

If you really want to raise goldfish, and ensure a lot survive, you have to quarantine the eggs and baby fish inside a "nursery".. 
nets for such purposes are available. 
personally, im not going to bother..fish will breed, a few of the offspring might survive..same as in the wild. 

Scot


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

Frogs seem to attract snakes where I live, and that's bad news for the hounds and everyone else. I think the snakes ate all of my frogs except for the tiny tree frogs which I hear at night. 

I'm not a big fish fan as they are finicky and the least little thing can kill them. I'd like to get some crayfish and hope for more frogs to make their way to my waterway. I also enjoy watching the birds, oh, and the trains too, of course 

dave


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Thank you guys. In my suburban setting, I'd be amazed if a snake showed up. Boy would that freak out my wife! Heck I'm not so sure I'd be thrilled either although in our climate there are no dangerous speciies. Scott informative, thanks. Like you, I'm not interested in helping the fish population, I was just curious. David, if only my pond could magically attract those frogs! My pocket book would appreciate that!


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

I had a different experience with a frog. 

That dang frog never shut up. It was a constant croak 24/7. Well I had enough I searched out our frog and caught him and took him a mile or so away to a stream and let him go. It was better for the both of us.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

That's pretty funny Jake. I haven't identified the variety of frog I have. It is small and not likely a bullfrog. He or she has been silent so far, maybe afraid to draw attention from our domesticated clan - dog and a couple of cats.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

That's pretty funny Jake. I haven't identified the variety of frog I have. It is small and not likely a bullfrog. He or she has been silent so far, maybe afraid to draw attention from our domesticated clan - dog and a couple of cats.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

It's depends on the type of frog. Bullfrogs will eat fish.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"That dang frog never shut up." 

Jake; 

I guess that made you a ribbit counter! (Sorry, too good to resist.) 

Best, 
David Meashey


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## Bob in Kalamazoo (Apr 2, 2009)

I put in a couple of ponds when I built my garden railroad and I had frogs show up almost immediately. I put 6 little gold fish in and now I have a bunch. I don't do anything except keep water in the ponds and keep the ponds open in the winter. The fish and frogs just survive on their own.
Bob


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

I had a 'pet' frog or toad that decided it liked to go for a swim in my pool. I would see it down at the bottom and fish it out as I was afraid it would drown or couldn't get out. Then I noticed that the frog had figured out how to get out on it's own so I left it alone. It continued to go for it's daily swim until one day my Rat Terrier caught it in the grass. End of frog. No other frog has ever done that before or since.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By jfrank on 13 Jun 2012 07:26 PM 
I had a 'pet' frog or toad that decided it liked to go for a swim in my pool. I would see it down at the bottom and fish it out as I was afraid it would drown or couldn't get out. Then I noticed that the frog had figured out how to get out on it's own so I left it alone. It continued to go for it's daily swim until one day my Rat Terrier caught it in the grass. End of frog. No other frog has ever done that before or since.


RATS ! If it was indeed a toad, I am surprised the dog didn't spit it out as soon as it had a taste of the secretion.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Really Jim, Bull frogs eat fish. Oh no didn't want to hear that. I did a quick internet search and I think my visitor is a small bull. Are they like snakes can they consume fish their own size or just the little ones. Any idea how big an appetite these guys have?


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

I don't know a lot about bullfrogs. The main reason I know they eat fish is I did some research as I was loosing goldfish in my 100 gal pond. That's where I found out that bullfrogs will eat fish. The consensus seems to be if the fish will fit in its mouth it will eat it, bigger fish are safe. I also have garter snakes - they are attracted to the water. They will eat small fish, maybe less than a year old. They try and get the bigger ones but are unsuccessful. But my fish were 4 years old - about 7 inches long. Turned out to be a Blue Heron, my wife saw it haul a fish off and eat it. I've put some bird netting over the pond and that has sent the heron looking elsewhere.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

My website is a mess so don't bother clicking around beyond this picture but let's see if this link takes you to a picture of my frog which is going quickly from being ah cute to oh no a predator. Bull Frog

Robert


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

We have a Blue Heron that frequents our pond. He frequents all of the ponds in our area, both natural and man made. I have strung some clear fishing line over the pond in hopes it may deter him or her. But what about racoons? Will they go after fish in a pond? We have some Bullfrogs, but the potential meals are too large. 

The Bullfrog topic reminds me of a nature program some years back. The African Bullfrog grows to be quite large. Three feet in length in fact. I presume that it is measured with legs extended. The film showed one of them eating a fairly large scorpion. Then alittle later, the same frog devoured a poisonous centipede. The scorpion's natural enemy. It appears that the Bullfrog has two spike like teeth in it's upper jaw that helps immobilize it's prey. That's some tough frog.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Yep, racoons will eat the fish. I fed the sewer bears in my neighborhood 2 dozen gold fish before I decided they could just go someplace else for their dining pleasure. 

One way to keep the sewer bears from getting the fish is to be sure there are no sloping entries into the water. If they can walk into the water they will venture out quite deep, but if there is a sharp drop off at the edge they seem to be stuck just leaning into the pond and swiping at the fish with their front paws. If the water is deep enough (deeper than the length of the front legs) and wide enough so the fish can go deep and farther away than the racoon can reach then they MIGHT survive. I say, "might" because if you feed the fish by hand, they willl become habituated to food being delivered by anything that approaches the pond and will come to the surface for the racoon to catch, apparently thinking they were to be fed lunch, not become lunch.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Well I guess I am doomed. My pond has sloping sides and is only about 18" deep at it's deepest. My guess on the raccoon was from some poop I saw near the box turtle pen. It was a black pile. About 2" in diameter. It resembled caviar. I've seen deer droppings and rabbit turds. This looked nothing like them.


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## markperr (Jan 7, 2008)

Frogs are an interesting addition to any pond. These days, I'm enjoying one particular leopard frog that has seemed to take a liking to a particular rock alongside my waterfall. Some years it's frog heaven, some years it's a famine. Some years, I don't have to feed the fish for a good chunk of the summer because there are so many tadpoles. One year, I had a rather large leopard frog that used to sit on a rock at the edge of the pond and watch me work on the layout, whether it be track maintenance, or weed pulling, or whatever. We had eight frogs in the pond that year and he was the biggest so I nicknamed him grandaddy frog. Our relationship developed to the point where I could rub the top of his head with my fingertip and he would actually close his eyes as though he were enjoying it. Odd, yes, buy a fond memory nonetheless.


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