Forum home Wildlife gardening
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

unexpected sighting of a frog - help!

Yesterday I was in the 'woodland' area of my garden under an apple tree and to my astonishment I disturbed a large frog, which from looking at pictures I believe is just the common frog.  I am astounded as we have no pond and while I cant be sure, to the best of my knowledge none of my neighbours do either.  With high 6' fences pretty much all around I also cant fathom how he arrived.  I am thrilled to have him, is there anything I should do to help him thrive?  I saw him near my compost heap and I read they sometimes live there, but now i'm nervous of disturbing him.  Also whilst I and neighbours are trying to attract hedgehogs into the garden they havent arrived yet, and I have just resorted to slug pellets in that area as I have pretty much just twigs left on some plants.  Will they harm Mr Frog?  Thanks

«1

Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    whatever slug pellets do to hedgehogs they will do to frogs. Nasty stuff



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • oh ok then I'll definitely lay off them but they are a last resort.  My street is trying to introduce a hedgehog highway with holes cut in fences so they can roam around, and then they can happily feast on the slugs, but they need to be enticed into the back gardens first.  But in the meantime if anyone else can give me some ideas re the frog that would be great 

  • ClaringtonClarington Posts: 4,949

    Slug pellets really shouldn't be used in an area you're tying to welcome hedgehogs in. They not just kill the slugs but can harm the frogs, slugs, birds etc. that eat the slugs.

    After all; if you kill all the slugs what will the hedgehogs eat? 

    Frogs don't need ponds in their immediate vicinity; my garden had quite for colony of frogs long before any ponds arrived in the area. But there is no harm in searching for small ponds in case you are inspired to find a place for one.

  • I have to agree with nutcutlet, please don't use slug pellets,  just think of the food chain - the slug pellets will be ingested by the slugs which perhaps a hedgehog, frog or mole may eat, you could end up with more than just dead slugs in your area adamadamant.

    Copper bands, grit, gravel, beer traps and broken egg shells all help to deter slugs from eating tender plants. 

  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 3,154

    Have you ever thought of encouraging more wildlife to your garden by digging out a small pond/boggy area ?

    There are some excellent aquatic plants available , and any water in a garden is a positive factor .

  • ClaringtonClarington Posts: 4,949

    For frogs specially how about following the rspb and make them a home?

    Never tried it myself as my frogs have to rough it in long grasses and log piles .

    https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/give-nature-a-home-in-your-garden/garden-activities/makeafrogandtoadabode/

  • Great everyone, thanks for all your replies, I have been well and truly told!  I do understand, I rarely use pellets but this was an exceptional case - 6 lovingly reared dahlias reduced to nothing but sticks in a night and I was so fed up!.  But a lesson learnt, it does help to hear how vehemently many of you feel about them. And of course I will never use them after this because I do want the hedgehogs in.   According to our local expert we are going to have to entice the hedgehogs from the other side of our wide road where there is a field with some judicious feeding trails, but we haven't started doing that yet as all our fence holes in the hedgehog superhighway are not yet cut through
    And I will look at the frog home.  

    Happy gardening everyone

     

  • Good luck with enticing  the hedgehogs, they are lovely little creatures - we feed our visiting hogs most evenings (they also keep the slug numbers down), and are a delight to see snuffling around the garden at night.  If you do think you may have some visiting your garden you could try posting a picture on the hedgehog link on here, which is full of information and stories to share.

  • Thanks Guernsey, I didnt get an alert that you'd replied, sorry for the delay in acknowledging.  I will post if I get a hedgehog - we used to have one a hundred years ago and it was lovely to see him snuffling across the lawn at dusk, but we got new neighbours with new fences - many of them solid, unlike our old slatted ones, with concrete bases, so it is hard to persuade people to open the gardens up.  But I am persisting!

  • Hi Adam

    Amphibians differ in their attitude to water - toads only use it for breeding and are effectively land animals, newts spend a lot more time in water, and frogs (in my experience) pick and choose: I have frogs who are resident in my pond, and frogs who live under rocks, plants, the shed etc, and probably don't bother with the pond, as they've already found dampness, safety and food on land. If you want to encourage them, create lots of "untidy", dark, damp areas you leave undisturbed for much of the time. They're pretty small creatures and can jump a long way, so yours could have come from anywhere, and through the smallest gap. If you want to really encourage them, though, put in a pond! Or, as Paul B3 mentions, any water: I've got a frog resident in an old paint pot which filled naturally with rainwater and is hidden underneath a photinia, another in a bucket near the shed, one in an upturned wok(!)...
Sign In or Register to comment.