Froggy tragedy

[Shadylane]

Me and Himself went down the plot the other day and we were both gutted to find about ten dead frogs floating in our small wildlife pond. Not so much wildlife as wilddead

I knew when we put it in that it was probably too shallow for them to hibernate in but I naively thought they would have the sense to know that too. They were young frogs from last years spawn - quite small but I couldn't believe they had survived all the potential hazards of the summer only to be frozen/suffocated to death while in the midst of their winter long nap.

Has anyone any ideas - short of filling it in - for how I can prevent this happening again. I reckon it's about a foot deep, maybe a bit more, one of those rigid pre-moulded things. The smallest you can get.

[binley100]

Oh no how sad......I've been worried about ours , cos it's small . today I saw some bubbles
so I'm hoping all is well....Not sure what can be done

[Dottie]

Not a nice thing to find on your visit, but we have had a harsh winter this year.

I'm in south and my pond is not much deeper I would have thought, but I do have a loads of logs fully surrounding it and sticking in and out of the pond. So the wood acts as insulation in summer and winter. Obviously winter down here is less intense and not as long as it will be in Yorkshire, but my pond all seemed fine when I was there the other day, no dead frogs to see.

Near the end of this year, is it possible to cover the pound with a slab of thick polysterene? Leaving enough of a gap above water to let the water breath and the frogs to get in and out. Just an idea, don't know if it's a suitable material or if it will work. Giving your pond and frogs a winter coat.

[lainey lou]

My Mum and Dad have a huge and deep pond, sadly after the bad weather last year they found over 30 dead frogs. Having said that they still seemed to have hundreds of them in the summer.
Sorry don't have anything useful to say by way of advice.

[Canny Grower]

Froggy tragedy

We've had exactly the same sad experience. I've dredged out 25 bodies from our small garden pond so far. I had no idea there were so many frogs in there - what did they find to eat?

Our pond is about 80cms deep but there was a thick sheet of ice on it for weeks. I guess there just wasn't enough oxygen to support all those frogs.

Last winter I managed to keep an open space by melting the ice with a pan of hot water every morning but this year the ice was just too thick. Does anyone else have an answer?

[Two_Sheds]

I've found this: "Deep water will provide a place for frogs to hibernate in (less than 60cm and they may freeze).
Use hot water to melt ice in the winter so that hibernating frogs do not suffocate.
Piles of stone or logs near the pond will provide an alternative place for hibernation"

Recent studies have shown that you may not need to melt the ice if you have plenty of oxygenating plants in your pond: they give off oxygen bubbles and the ice traps it in the water

[Shadylane]

Thank you to everyone for your replies - lots of great ideas/suggestions there so you've all given me something to think about. Commiserations to those who have also lost frogs - it has been a really harsh winter, but hopefully some will have survived elsewhere.
Thanks again

[Dottie]

So my log/woodland like pond that I created because I thought it looked more natural and would also support bugs and stuff, turns out to be the way to go. Good to know I've got it right, even though I'd not actually thought about how effective it would be in the cold winter months. Great news for me, but still very sad to hear how many frogs are been found dead on other plots.

[Alison]

I had this problem last year despite making the pond the required depth for it not to be a problem. Was rather concerned at the time, however there were still loads of frogs come summer time so the dead ones had only been a small percentage of the total (many aren't in the water but in any long grass etc) so when I saw half a dozen floaters this New Year I was far less worried than last year. If you do a google search you'll find it's a common problem and actually quite normal in a proper winter like the last two.

[Florence Fennel]

As Alison says, it sounds like just nature taking it's course.

[Shadylane]

Yeah I did find something on the Gardeners World blog from this time last year about it - it's a common phenomenon apparently, which makes me feel a bit better but it's still a bit grim. Still I will try some of the suggestions here. I like the idea of piling up logs around it. At the mo it's surrounded by rocks and there a are a few logs some feet away. I reckon I need more logs. The oxygenating plants never took off either so I guess I'll have to by some more.

It looks rubbish right now. Funny cos the one we put in at home has done loads better. Much clearer(it's in the shade though) and the water forget-me-nots are taking off well. Hopefully the frogs will find it soon - we have plenty of 'food' for them - and by 'food' I mean of the slimy, hateful, lettuce munching variety

[Two_Sheds]

it's a common phenomenon apparently, which makes me feel a bit better

I read that it's mainly the males who hibernate in a pond, the females prefer to be under soil/logs/rocks (sensible girls)

[Shadylane]

Haha it all makes sense.

[Headfry]

Found the first frog of the new year in my small pond on Saturday! Happy HF...so far no dead frogs....phew!