Typically throughout the spring we get a couple of frogs in our pool, but during the past few weeks this fall we’ve gotten a number of frogs in our pool as well. I wrote to my friend Dick Nikolai who recently retired from the Wisconsin DNR. This is what he said about this new phenomenon and the photos I sent:
“You have two species of frogs. One is a green frog which is more typical of ponds and is very common. The second frog is a Northern Leopard Frog which is somewhat common but more of a land or meadow frog. Both coming to your pool area is due to the fall migration to wetlands for their overwintering. I am sure there are frogs also coming to the detention ponds nearby. It has been a great year for frogs for wetlands were filled to their capacity and remained that way because of the abundance of rain in 2016. As the weather turns cooler you may see more of them.
In order to assist the frogs further (from drowning) you can throw in a floating board or similar piece into the pool so the frogs could climb above it. Problem with that it makes them vulnerable to great blue herons and other birds that may dine on them. They just need some floating mat along with overhead cover.”
Too bad I can’t introduce some native White Water Lilies (Nymphaea odorata) into my pool. Then we’d have it made!
Note: Thankfully where I live in Wisconsin, we have limited contamination from Atrazine as noted in maps included in this report from NRDC. All the frogs I’ve rescued from my pool over the years have been healthy and have appeared to be appropriately shaped.
We had little a green frog mature into a large frog in our pool last summer. Is it likely it will return to us this summer? We’re hoping so!
Here’s hoping so, Robyn — Donna