Bullfrogs

[Jeanne]

I imported a dozen big bullfrog tadpoles from a company. They all looked
fine -- second year tadpoles. Some had hind legs starting. #12 died. As
an experiment, I let #11 out of his protection screen box to see the koi
reaction. They looked him over but didn't pay much attention thereafter.
So, I assumed, it would be ok to let them all out. That was about four weeks
ago. Haven't seen any since. The pond is concrete, about 30 x 40 x 2 feet
and full of string algae, lilies, etc. One center area 6 x 6 is 3 ft deep.
The seven koi are big, well fed, about 25 years old. Any ideas anybody??
Do they hide until dark? Will someday I see some sitting on a lily pad? Do
I start over? Somewhere I read that koi don't like to eat tadpoles but they
are always rooting around in the algae for live food including goldfish
hatches. Could they have gobbled them by mistake? Thanks.....
Bruce Matthews
Monterey

[Agave]

Jeanne wrote:
> I imported a dozen big bullfrog tadpoles from a company. They all looked
> fine -- second year tadpoles. Some had hind legs starting. #12 died. As
> an experiment, I let #11 out of his protection screen box to see the koi
> reaction. They looked him over but didn't pay much attention thereafter.
> So, I assumed, it would be ok to let them all out. That was about four weeks
> ago. Haven't seen any since. The pond is concrete, about 30 x 40 x 2 feet
> and full of string algae, lilies, etc. One center area 6 x 6 is 3 ft deep.
> The seven koi are big, well fed, about 25 years old. Any ideas anybody??
> Do they hide until dark? Will someday I see some sitting on a lily pad? Do
> I start over? Somewhere I read that koi don't like to eat tadpoles but they
> are always rooting around in the algae for live food including goldfish
> hatches. Could they have gobbled them by mistake? Thanks.....
> Bruce Matthews
> Monterey
>
>
>
From personal experience...

At a prior home, we built a backyard pond (about 10k gals); the
Bullfrogs showed up all by themselves. Kind of interesting since the
only consistent water supplies were an overflow drainage pond, about 1/2
mile away and the Delaware River, about a mile away...those frogs had to
do some major hopping across several roads to get to my backyard. When
we asked the pond guy, he said that's the way it is, the frogs will come
naturally and stay in a place that suits them. He also said that the
frogs could have come from other backyard ponds.

So, I suppose your frogs could have just hopped away to a neighbor's
pond or other natural water source.

Something you didn't mention was how much edge planting and brush was
beside the pond. Frogs spend more time on land, beside the water
source, than in the water. They need cover to be protected from
predators and the sun, as well as conceal themselves for hunting.

Something to consider:
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/bullfrog.shtml

[Dude]

> From personal experience...
>
> At a prior home, we built a backyard pond (about 10k gals); the
> Bullfrogs showed up all by themselves. Kind of interesting since the
> only consistent water supplies were an overflow drainage pond, about 1/2
> mile away and the Delaware River, about a mile away...those frogs had to
> do some major hopping across several roads to get to my backyard. When
> we asked the pond guy, he said that's the way it is, the frogs will come
> naturally and stay in a place that suits them. He also said that the
> frogs could have come from other backyard ponds.
>
> So, I suppose your frogs could have just hopped away to a neighbor's
> pond or other natural water source.
>
She mentioned they were tadpoles and just starting to get there legs...

Cheers,
Chris

[Agave]

Dude wrote:
>> From personal experience...
>>
>> At a prior home, we built a backyard pond (about 10k gals); the
>> Bullfrogs showed up all by themselves. Kind of interesting since the
>> only consistent water supplies were an overflow drainage pond, about 1/2
>> mile away and the Delaware River, about a mile away...those frogs had to
>> do some major hopping across several roads to get to my backyard. When
>> we asked the pond guy, he said that's the way it is, the frogs will come
>> naturally and stay in a place that suits them. He also said that the
>> frogs could have come from other backyard ponds.
>>
>> So, I suppose your frogs could have just hopped away to a neighbor's
>> pond or other natural water source.
>>
>>
> She mentioned they were tadpoles and just starting to get there legs...
>
> Cheers,
> Chris
>
>
From the OP "...second year tadpoles. Some had hind legs starting...so,
I assumed, it would be ok to let them all out. That was about four weeks
ago."

From several sites having information about the life-cycle of the
Bullfrog, it's common for a Bullfrog tadpole, after its back legs
emerge, to quickly develop its front legs, lose its tail, and begin to
start hopping about.

Whether this was the case for her (actually, I think it's a he "Bruce
Matthews, Monterey") was somewhat informed speculation on my part, hence
my writing "I suppose..."

Thanks for pointing that out; allowing me to clarify my prior response.

[Rayzer]

I have a small pond (11x16), and clean it out in the spring each year. This
year, in addition to 5 new fish, I found 7 bullfrog tadpoles. The tadpoles
were large, about 3 to 5 inches long.

I put the fish & the tadpoles in a 18" deep kiddie pool while I'm cleaning
the pond. The next day, I notice that all but one of the tadpoles are gone.
They must have been eaten by the fish.

A few of my fish are about 16" long, the rest are smaller.

"Jeanne" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> I imported a dozen big bullfrog tadpoles from a company. They all looked
> fine -- second year tadpoles. Some had hind legs starting. #12 died. As
> an experiment, I let #11 out of his protection screen box to see the koi
> reaction. They looked him over but didn't pay much attention thereafter.
> So, I assumed, it would be ok to let them all out. That was about four
> weeks
> ago. Haven't seen any since. The pond is concrete, about 30 x 40 x 2
> feet
> and full of string algae, lilies, etc. One center area 6 x 6 is 3 ft deep.
> The seven koi are big, well fed, about 25 years old. Any ideas anybody??
> Do they hide until dark? Will someday I see some sitting on a lily pad?
> Do
> I start over? Somewhere I read that koi don't like to eat tadpoles but
> they
> are always rooting around in the algae for live food including goldfish
> hatches. Could they have gobbled them by mistake? Thanks.....
> Bruce Matthews
> Monterey
>
>