How to Control Frogs in a Backyard Pond

The sounds of "ribbits" resounding through the house from the backyard can disturb many sensible residents. If you do not like frogs for their friendly nature and insect eating habits, control the pond environment so frogs do not like it. Most frogs do not take to a backyard pond, since they like a large natural estate, in a lake, stream or swamp. After you make the environment unsuitable for frogs, the few outgoing amphibians who took up the pad will leave for pleasant waters.

Things You'll Need

• Frog catching net
• Pond cleaning supplies
• Cleaning bucket
• Water filter
• Netting (optional)
• Small pond fish, goldfish or koi (optional)
• Bass (optional)
• Snapping turtle (optional)
• Garden snake (optional)
• Birds (optional)

Instructions

1. Catch the adults frogs that live in the pond area, and return them to nature. Frogs decided to live in your pond area for the water and the insects, plant life and eggs they can eat. Give the frogs a better residence. Catch them and put them in a life system with more water and food at a stream, lake or swamp nearby.

2. Clean out the frogs' food supply. The food supply, the second reason frogs take up residence, you can change. Without adequate food supply, tadpoles will not grow to maturity. Frogs looking around for good waters will not like the food scarcity. Clean out the algae and weeds that frogs love to eat and hide their eggs in. Also remove decaying plant leaves and flowers. In spring, take out the decayed debris on the pond bottom.

3. Filter the water. Use a pond filter to keep the finer sized nutrients to a level suitable for the plants, fish and water life you want to keep. Do not give the frogs any excess nutrients. Reducing the nutrients has the added benefit of lowering the insect population.

4. Put netting around the backyard and pond. A strong measure you can use at the beginning of your control program is netting. Frogs have to hop in and hop around. Obstruct their paths. Install netting at least 2 feet high near a fence bottom, and if you need stronger protection, around the pond. Dig down at least 6 inches so the brave frogs do not have room in top soil and loose dirt to dig under.

5. Add animals to the pond life that eat frogs, tadpoles and frog eggs. Most fish eat tadpoles and eggs. Two favorites are goldfish and koi. In a larger pond, you can keep bass that eat the frogs. If you prefer amphibians to fish, add a snapping turtle, or two. Garden snakes also consider frogs edible. Birds will eat frogs and their insect food supply.

6. Keep the pond in balance, with the right amounts of nutrients and light. Frogs also take to light. With monthly and yearly cleaning and filtering, keep down the nutrients in the pond to the amount good for the favored pond life. Reduce light in the pond by growing water lilies, pond plants with large leaves and surrounding plants with shade giving leaves.

7. Give the frogs a good path to greener waters. Clear a path for your pond frogs to travel to the area to a nearby stream, lake or swamp thriving with pond life. When food and light become unacceptably low, the frogs will leave.

Tips & Warnings

• For a thriving frog colony, use netting over the pond for a drastic measure. After the frog population dwindles, you can remove the netting.

• Avoid chemical poisons for insects that can also damage plant life or fish. You always want to support a good environmental balance.

References

• Bull Frogs at Bug Spray
• How To Get Rid of Those Creatures at Koi.com
• Snapping Turtle at Professional Wildlife Removal

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Backyard Conservation at Natural Resources Conservation Service