Re: Pond + dogs + frogs = big mistake?

[DonKcR]

Hi, I built a small pond and then 3 toads suddenly appeared. I found out in
our area they were called CO. toads. I looked them up in the computer and
they are also poisonous to pets, dogs, cats etc. They have poisonous glands.
So I went out and within a couple of nights rounded them up and relocated
them to a preserve near our area. Then I found thousands of eggs in long
strings in the pond. I remove them from the pond. No more problems. But my
small dogs still try to see if they are out there.They used to find them the
minute I opened the door at night to go to the pond. I do miss the darn
things, I'm crazy but I loved to hear them at night. Kc
"netnews.comcast.net" > wrote in message
. net...
> Hello. I recently installed a 100 gal. preformed pond in my backyard. At
the
> moment, it just has a few lillies and other plants, no fish. A week or two
> ago I noticed dozens of little tadpoles in the water. Didn't think much of
> it at the time. Today I saw a toad on the patio. Tried to capture it but
> when I came back out with a box it was gone.
>
> My problem is that I have dogs, and here in S. Florida we have bufo toads
> which are highly poisonous to dogs.
>
> I'm not sure the toad I saw today was one of the poisonous ones; I
> understand that bufo toads can grow quite large but they have to start out
> small, no? I'm concerned that the pond may be an attraction for them and
> that it may be wise to remove it asap before one of my dogs gets poisoned.
> In the 3+ years I've lived here I have never seen a toad in my backyard
> until now. My dogs have had encounters with cats, squirrels, birds and
> oppossums that have had the misfortune to stray into the yard, so I'm sure
> they will not have any fear of a toad.
>
> My question is: do small garden ponds attract bufo toads, and also is
there
> any way to tell if the tadpoles in the pond are baby bufo toads? Is there
> any safe way to repel these toads, or at least the bufos, or was it just a
> mistake to install the pond in the first place, given the bufo toad
problem
> in S. Florida?
>
> Thanks
> Don
>
>

[Don]

Thanks, but if indeed the pond is attracting toads, I think that would be an
endless battle. Bufo toads are all over S. Florida; people find them in
their yards all the time and it's common for dogs to die from licking or
biting them, especially small dogs. Happened to one of my pastor's dogs
recently.

I don't know if the presence of a pond (or any body of water like a swimming
pool) attracts them, or if its just coincidental that I've never seen one in
the yard before I built the pond. Of course, they could have been here and I
just never saw them. But I'm not sure its worth taking the chance.

Anyone out there know if ponds are an attraction to these toads?

[Lydia]

I don't have any experience with them, but found this :

http://unisci.com/stories/20011/0209015.htm

Says in there "Marine toads prefer developed areas, where they use man-made
canals and ponds for spawning and gather under electric lights to feed on
insects." Says that immature toads are hard to tell from native species,
but adults are easily identified by size as they can be up to 9 inches long
and 2 pounds. The article also tells what symptoms to watch for in your
dogs and what to do if they've been poisoned.

Good luck,
Lydia



"Don" > wrote in message
. net...
> Thanks, but if indeed the pond is attracting toads, I think that would be
an
> endless battle. Bufo toads are all over S. Florida; people find them in
> their yards all the time and it's common for dogs to die from licking or
> biting them, especially small dogs. Happened to one of my pastor's dogs
> recently.
>
> I don't know if the presence of a pond (or any body of water like a
swimming
> pool) attracts them, or if its just coincidental that I've never seen one
in
> the yard before I built the pond. Of course, they could have been here and
I
> just never saw them. But I'm not sure its worth taking the chance.
>
> Anyone out there know if ponds are an attraction to these toads?
>
>

[K30a]

>>Anyone out there know if ponds are an attraction to these toads?<<
Any water would be I think.
I would look up the toads on Florida's fish and wildlife page.
If they are the bufo toads then remove all the eggs, taddies and inmature
toadlets from the pond and dispose of them.
As far as discouraging them from using your pond again try black bridal veil
netting stretched over the water or just monitor the pond, anytime you see a
string of black eggs, those are toad eggs, and you can remove them.

Good luck and hope your dogs stay safe!

k30a

[Don]

Thanks, but stretching cloth over the pond pretty much defeats the purpose
of having a pond in the first place. It wouldn't look very nice and I'd have
to remove the plants so I might as well just remove the pond altogether.
It's not the eggs I'm worried about anyhow, although the tadpoles were
chewing up the water lillies which I didn't particularly appreciate.

My main concern is that the pond will attract adult toads that the dogs will
come in contact with. I guess I should try to find a company who does ponds
down here and see if they can offer some advice.

[Don]

Lydia,

Thanks for that link; that's the guys I'm talking about. There are canals
all over the place around here; my house is not on the water but I'm only
about 300' or so from the nearest canal. I'm not sure if my little 100 gal.
pond is really much of an attraction when there are numerous canals and
swimming pools in the area, but then again I don't know whether its worth
taking the chance. Any pond owners in S. Florida here in this newsgroup?

[Don]

Right - I meant that dealing with the eggs isn't really a problem. Whether I
periodically clean out the pond or put up some sort of barrier to laying the
eggs in the first place, there's a solution.

What I don't have a solution for is keeping the adult toads out of the yard,
assuming my little pond is more attractive to them than all the canals and
swimming pools in the area.