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Posts by Hunty73: |
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Hunty73 Member Joined: 13 Jan 2004 No. of posts: 2  View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 13 Jan 2004
Topic: tadpole
Ive studied the amphibians in my small garden pond over 15 years.The original stock came from a pond being filled in for a road when i was 14.The frogs bred each year but the population fell steadily.it seemed the pond couldnt "feed" the tadpoles and they hence left the pond very late and were probably suffering high winter mortality.i started to feed the tadpoles myself once they were 3 weeks old on small amounts of tinned dogfood of all things.over several years the population increased and now the pond surface is totally covered in spawn late march.So much so it has enabled me to remove some of the spawn each year and introduce it in ponds i can find elsewhere.Being in a built up area with difficult terrain on land for the population ive found this really helps the population.The toads however died out as stated it seems they would only eat plant matter and the pond couldnt sustain a viable population.The smooth newts have held on over the 15 years but again at very low densities with only a few breeding females each year.it seems only around 20 baby newts survive to leave the pond.ive built a larfe area against the back garden wall off branches stones and rotting vegetation to try to ensure a higher amount reach adulthood. |
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Hunty73 Member Joined: 13 Jan 2004 No. of posts: 2 View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 14 Jan 2004
Topic: tadpole
Hi gemma, i agree with your point on toad tadpoles.They seem to suffer in small ponds and take forever to develop.Locally toads have done better but mainly in fishing ponds and large lakes and again this would stand up to your point on fish predatation.I will try this year on your spinach point as ive never tried adding veg matter.Do you add it raw?as for the newts,my pond though small is very established and is teaming with daphnia all summer,and even as the newts leave there is still a good supply.i think the problem is the terrestrial habitat.it is very built up and although gardens next door is concrete and young newts and frogs stick to it in summer.Also there are no ponds within a mile or so of me so my pond has to self sustain.The newts/frogscame from over 15 ponds in my area as a boy,none now remain,most had breeding Great crested and all teamed with newts being mainly old mineworkings.i have actually set two ponds away who now breed well (frogs) and am lookig to set another away this year.I usually get around 15 to 20 limps of spawn and tend to remove 3 or 4.ive alwso bought my own house now (the pond is at parents) and am in the process of building a pond here based on what ive learned and much bigger than the other.Il be seeding this pond in the spring and so hope to establish another viable population. John |
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