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WEATHER FORECAST- freezing frog: |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337  View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 26 Nov 2010 hi gang! as a humble postie, i keep my eye on several other garden ponds as i go about my daily duties/chores. earlier this year after the last bitter cold snap, all of them had multiple dead frogs. most pond owners did nothing about the ice at all and lost loads. however one switched-on chap occasionally broke a hole in one corner of his pool. in an effort to release the lethal trapped gas of course. as a result i noticed that his pond suffered less losses than the others. only one or two stiffs. I however, suffered NO fatalities in my pond. obviously you could take the stance of just letting nature take its course and not intervene. its all part of natural selection if some frogs get caught out and die. the survivors face less competition for food/mates next year and will probably do well. however, if like me you love these beauties; 
.....and you cant bear the thought of any suffering such a nasty fate then heres my advice for the oncoming freeze-ups; as GENTLY AS POSSIBLE break the ice ALL OVER (or as much as you can reach SAFELY) your pond EVERY day during the freeze. i usually did it before work with a spade. sometimes more than once in a day when the ice was very thick. as i said, all the other ponds had multiple dead R.temps (one also had newt cadavers) but i didnt lose ANYTHING. it worked for me. 
ben Diversity. |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 26 Nov 2010 Ben this is all very kind of you but I'm afraid I can't keep my pond ice free when the real hard weather sets in. I've tried all sorts, with no luck. I've never found any corpses in my pond, which isn't to say there are none. I know frogs live in there. Suz |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337 View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 28 Nov 2010 hi suz, id imagine (Devon being Devon) that it was a slightly damper, warmer winter where you are? maybe my advice is more applicable further north. your frogs may have been under less stress from the cold than those up here? frog deaths in garden ponds usually become apparent from what ive seen. just thinking aloud! ben Diversity. |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 28 Nov 2010 I think you might be surprised how cold it can be in winter in Devon away from the coasts. Negative temps into double figures at times. Barely above zero for days now and everywhere frozen (pond included) with the soil like iron. We certainly do damp as well and plenty of it at times! Suz |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412  View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 29 Nov 2010 Thought there was no real evidence of ponds freezing over making much difference to frogs? I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents. 
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337 View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 29 Nov 2010 im adopting the same approach to the ice this winter and im sure the other pond owners will be doing what they normally do. ie nothing. the guy who broke ice last time had a new hole in his pond today i noticed. i visit them all every day so itll be interesting to see if the pattern is the same this time. ben Diversity. |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412 View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 29 Nov 2010 Well let us know. I ainÆt seen a dead froggie in my pond at all in the 2 years IÆve lived at my house. Good job too cos itÆd break my heart. I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents.
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ibwaheemi Member Joined: 17 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 7 View other posts by ibwaheemi |
Posted: 21 Dec 2010 i had to give the pond 7 heavy blows with a pick axe to see liquid. fyi the colder water is the more soluble oxygen becomes so dont worry about dead plants too much |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412 View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 22 Dec 2010 [QUOTE=ibwaheemi]i had to give the pond 7 heavy blows with a pick axe to see liquid.[/QUOTE] I got to water with a few blows with a big hammer last night, thought I might not make it though.
[QUOTE=ibwaheemi]fyi the colder water is the more soluble oxygen becomes so dont worry about dead plants too much [/QUOTE] Good. I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents.
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- WEATHER FORECAST- freezing frog |
I asked here yonks ago and was told if itÆs been frozen over for a while to knock a hole in but otherwise the froggies should be ok. 
ThereÆs lots of decaying plants and leafage in mine at the mo, I havenÆt had the chance to pull out all the fallen leaves yet. 
