Need advice to save frogs

[bshmerlie]

If DNR is unwilling to leave some water in the pond for the tadpoles to develop enough I would first verify visually that there are tadpoles there this year and then contact the news media (ABC- NBC- CBS- Discovery Channel) anyone and everyone who will cover your story. That will put public pressure on them to do something, ie, "save the frogs". Bring up the fact that amphibian populations world wide are on a massive decline due to habitat destruction such as this. But please check first that this is not some invasive species of frog or toad that shouldn't be in your state in the first place. Then they would be seen as the heroes.

[bshmerlie]

Or yes...you could do as Kevin suggested and raise tens of thousands of frogs in your backyard. Call me your done I would like to see this.

[bluechip]

Thanks for the quick reply guys! The draining is probably about a month away, so plenty of time to think about this one. All the water is pumped into the pond from a river that is about 100 yds away. The water passes through a large screened box to keep out predator fish such as bass, bluegill, pike and such. This makes an ideal, predator free area for the tadpoles, except herons or other wading birds. A walk along the grassy banks of the pond at this moment shows a lot of bullfrogs and leopard frogs (sorry, my latin isn't that great!), but I'll go as far as saying they are rana-something or other. I would think that the adults that are spawning in the pond now are easier to identify than newly hatched tadpoles, so possibly a close examination at this time might reveal the species involved. What I'm gathering here is, if they are common bullfrogs and brown and green leopard frogs, no agency will show much sympathy. I'll take a close look this weekend and see what adults may be found.
Thanks to all

[bshmerlie]

If I'm not mistaken the Bull frog and the leopard frogs are the ones used for "frog legs". Perhaps if you informed the fishing company that they have two sources of income in this one pond at least the frogs would not go to waste. America is one of the largest importers of frog legs in the world. They have tried frog farming in various southern states maybe your pond would be a good source. That fishing company could even sell the use of that pond to a frog leg company. Large companies often think with their profits and that is sometimes the best motivating factor.

[Deku]

If its bullfrogs probably not. But here is what you can do.

Dress as a ninja.
Go over there and collect as many as possible
Bolt right out of there
Get your own indoor 55g tank oe outdoor 55g rubbermaid tub
Set it up nicely.
Then after two years release somewhere else and keep one if you want(Bullfroglets)
While each year you can keep adding more. Or what you can do is, keep em, then sell em to people who like bullfrogs. :P

[bluechip]

I mentioned the problem to a friend a bit ago and he had a suggestion that sounds good. I'll see if the DNR will simply refill the pond with a foot or two of water at the end of their fish harvesting. The DNR will probably have some reason not to do it, but it's worth a try.

[Deku]

I mentioned the problem to a friend a bit ago and he had a suggestion that sounds good. I'll see if the DNR will simply refill the pond with a foot or two of water at the end of their fish harvesting. The DNR will probably have some reason not to do it, but it's worth a try.

Dude, just collect the froggies. Because should they deny your request atleast you can save some.