Questions concerning attracting American bullfrogs to backyard ponds

[addy1]

I had a huge pond in az, caught bull frogs out of az natural water ponds. They stayed for a bit, then during a good rain storm, gone.

Block wall fenced yard. One acre.

 

[Moni_Pond]

Last summer I decided to set up one of those really small patio ponds about 200 feet or so away from my larger 10,000 gallon pond. It was hilarious to me that within 24 hours a bullfrog had travelled to the newly set up patio pond. I had a couple of plants in there and they were rock and shaking like crazy, which is how I knew something had already made a home in there. I truly didn’t expect that and am not sure how it knew the pond was there. I did have a small little fountain in there so perhaps it heard the water running.

 

[Wayfarin]

I had a huge pond in az, caught bull frogs out of az natural water ponds. They stayed for a bit, then during a good rain storm, gone.

Block wall fenced yard. One acre.

They have a homing instinct, similar to turtles.
Frogs usually colonize water bodies as juveniles, but adults often prefer to stay within an established territory, and will return to it or seek it when moved.
They only travel overland when the weather is wet or sufficiently moist.

Bullfrogs are less likely to leave if they are added to water gardens as tadpoles and mature there. That's why they don't often sell them for stocking ponds as adults.

That's also why I'm asking this question. I could always add a bullfrog to the pond, but attracting them is a better approach, since they are more likely to stay if they show up on their own.

 

[Wayfarin]

Last summer I decided to set up one of those really small patio ponds about 200 feet or so away from my larger 10,000 gallon pond. It was hilarious to me that within 24 hours a bullfrog had travelled to the newly set up patio pond. I had a couple of plants in there and they were rock and shaking like crazy, which is how I knew something had already made a home in there. I truly didn’t expect that and am not sure how it knew the pond was there. I did have a small little fountain in there so perhaps it heard the water running.

How big was the patio pond? How big was the frog?

I've heard that frogs prefer ponds with shallow slopes so they can access the land easily to forage. I'd imagine a patio pond would be deep, with walls that should keep frogs from colonizing. How high were the walls?

 

[WaterGardener]

The frogs here have no trouble with a vertical, 31" tall side of the Intex above ground pool we use for water lilies. We have green frogs and tree frogs, if course, that deposit eggs in there every year. We don't normally allow bullfrogs to stay but I swear there were a few bullfrog tadpoles in there last fall. Where there is a will, they will find a way. And remember how high they can jump.

 

[Wayfarin]

The frogs here have no trouble with a vertical, 31" tall side of the Intex above ground pool we use for water lilies. We have green frogs and tree frogs, if course, that deposit eggs in there every year. We don't normally allow bullfrogs to stay but I swear there were a few bullfrog tadpoles in there last fall. Where there is a will, they will find a way. And remember how high they can jump.

Tree frogs and spring peepers can climb smooth surfaces easily and can ascend trees and tall shrubs. I don't have any doubts that they can climb the steep sides of pools (back when we had a swimming pool, toads and green frogs would get trapped after falling in, but tree frogs could easily escape.)

Green frogs? They can't climb.
I can see them jumping 3' to escape an enclosure, but how do they even know that there's a water garden behind the 31" wall?

Green frogs are barely distinct from bullfrogs. The only way to tell them apart is the dorsolateral ridges that stretch down the green frog's back. Their tadpoles are hard to tell apart (though bullfrog tadpoles can grow huge).

 

[WaterGardener]

I have no idea how they get in there, jumping I suppose, but there are always 3 or 4 in there during the summers, some fairly small.

There are green frog tadpoles in there now that have overwintered in that pool, like they do every year.

Frogs have an uncanny sense for finding water, maybe by smell? But they find water, even if it's a mud puddle.

 

[Wayfarin]

I have no idea how they get in there, jumping I suppose, but there are always 3 or 4 in there during the summers, some fairly small.

There are green frog tadpoles in there now that have overwintered in that pool, like they do every year.

Frogs have an uncanny sense for finding water, maybe by smell? But they find water, even if it's a mud puddle.

It's been said that frogs find water by seeing the reflective surface.
That can't be the case if they jump over 31" walls to get to a water garden.

Frogs prefer still ponds, so they don't listen for the sound of running water, either (like birds do).

The whole thing must not be well understood, even by experts.

You mentioned that you "don't allow bullfrogs to stay" at your pond. You mean they are also jumping the nearly 3' walls?

 

[WaterGardener]

I think there are a few bullfrog tadpoles in there right now. So I suppose the frogs jumped in, too. I have seen pictures of bullfrogs jumping up to catch birds, so I'm sure they could jump to the top rail of that pool without any problems.

I've seen a green frog jump from the water surface to more than a foot back from the edge of the pond. Where he jumped, the water level was about a foot down from the pond edge. He wasn't standing on anything but floating in open water when he jumped out.

When you have seen a lot of them, green frogs and bullfrogs get to be easy to tell apart. The same goes for their tadpoles. Yes, at first glance, they look very similar, but it doesn't take long to spot them easily.

One major difference is that the green frogs are not shy and won't run away until the last minute. I almost stepped on a small one yesterday. He was sitting on a rock slab on the edge of the pond. I didn't see him until my foot was coming down over him. Then he decided to move.

Bullfrogs flee before I can get even a good look at them. Maybe they know they aren't welcome here. I know they are around more from their sounds than by sight, and we usually have to catch them at night.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I've observed the same thing, @WaterGardener. My bullfrogs are much shyer than the green frogs, generally speaking. It's always the greens that earn nicknames such as 'brave frog' or 'friendly frog' due to their willingness to hang out in plain sight when we're working in & around the pond. The Jeremiahs (bullfrogs), on the other hand, tend to scramble away into hiding when we approach the pond. There are some notable exceptions, especially when they are mid-sized & have been raised in the pond. I guess those ones are just used to our being there & not causing them any harm? This cutie was a champ at posing for the camera last year:

He hung out in the same general area of planting shelf & didn't hide unless I really got in close.

This was a green frog from a few years back that we called 'friendly frog' because she simply sat around where we were & never hid. She didn't even care if I had the dogs come over & pose by her!!

She eventually just disappeared. I'm assuming her "friendliness" (ie - lack of natural fear) made her an easy target for a raccoon or other predator.

 

[WaterGardener]

We name our green frogs, too. Since they sound like someone plucking a banjo string, they get names of famous banjo players.

And yes, they don't shy away when we are sitting by the pond. They seem to watch us as much as we watch them.

 

[addy1]

I name none of them or the fish. Usually a named one disappears.

They are all called pretty fish and cute frog.

 

[j.w]

We name our green frogs, too. Since they sound like someone plucking a banjo string, they get names of famous banjo players.

And yes, they don't shy away when we are sitting by the pond. They seem to watch us as much as we watch them.

 

[Wayfarin]

One major difference is that the green frogs are not shy and won't run away until the last minute. I almost stepped on a small one yesterday. He was sitting on a rock slab on the edge of the pond. I didn't see him until my foot was coming down over him. Then he decided to move.

Bullfrogs flee before I can get even a good look at them. Maybe they know they aren't welcome here. I know they are around more from their sounds than by sight, and we usually have to catch them at night.

Green frogs are definitely much less wary than bullfrogs. I've heard that bullfrogs are more attracted to ponds with profuse vegetation, whereas green frogs can be found in almost any pool of freshwater.

Green frogs seem to be much more common than bullfrogs, but more likely they simply spend much less time hiding. They also seem to travel on land more regularly than bullfrogs, as I've never seen an adult bullfrog (at least the largest in size) moving overland far from a pond.

These behavioral traits don't really confirm the species, though, because a green frog can get startled, too.

 

[WaterGardener]

Those are just generalizations, and being such, there are always exceptions.