Hi Lisa,
Maybe you should make the edge of your pond not so bird friendly.
Birds still land on our waterlilies and try and take a bath. . . how well
they succeed depends on the size of the lily pad and the weight of
the bird. One poor little fellow landed on a very large leaf and it
didn't sink at all. Here he was flapping his wings and ducking his
head but not a drop of water was disturbed.
Maybe put a bird bath on the other side of the garden.
Jill
More on the "bad" frog:
Thanks to all who shared websites and info about the feeding habits of
frogs! Now I know this isn't too unusual, though we had a hard time even
suspecting the frog of the first four bird "murders!" A couple of the birds
were found dead in the pond; the other two were close to the pond. Since we
had made a kind of ramp out of rocks so the birds could down to the water to
get a drink, we thought that they had just fallen in, and that maybe the two
had dragged themselves out, but died of exposure. Our dog found another very
wet little bird, a chipping sparrow, huddled under the deck, and we thought
that was another case of a bird falling in and barely getting out of the
water. (BTW, that bird also lived through its experience.)
We had seen the frog swimming along the edge of the pond as birds walked on
top of the rocks edging the pond, and it looked like stalking behavior, but
it still seemed hard to believe. But this time, the frog actually had the
bird, by the neck, in its mouth, and was dunking it in and out of the water.
I think it was just trying to get a good grip. I separated them with a poop
scoop! (It was all that was handy at the time!) And as you know from the
previous post, the bird survived!
We have decided to keep the frog in the pond as it has become part of our
little ecosystem, come what may. We went for a canoe ride in our nearby
river today and saw kingfishers and a green heron - my daughter, who was
really upset about the near-murder of the sparrow, said that we'd better not
move the frog there, because it would surely become dinner for one of those
predators!
To all who wanted to see a picture of the "bad" frog:
I don't have a way to do this right now, but we know it is a female bullfrog
(looked it up in the Reader's Digest "North American Wildlife" guidebook),
and when it is just sitting on a rock the way frogs sit, it measures about
six inches from nose to tail end. When it swims and has its legs all
stretched out, it must be 12 inches or a little more. It is REALLY BIG!
Lisa from W.MI (Teddybear)
The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden than anyplace else on earth!
Hi Lisa
you wont believe this but last night we were sitting in bed watching (not
that it matters) Sex in the City, Wee Jock our Westie was lying on the
carpet by the bed and this little brown frog jumped in the door and across
the carpet. It must have got in through the kitchen sliding door and
hopped a good 60 feet down to the bedroom. we couldn't believe our eyes.
I picked him up in a damp cloth and put him outside he lept into the pond
and swam about. no sign of him this morning.
sure made us laugh
Hazel
----------
birds
> were found dead in the pond; the other two were close to the pond. Since
we
> had made a kind of ramp out of rocks so the birds could down to the water
to
> get a drink, we thought that they had just fallen in, and that maybe the
two
> had dragged themselves out, but died of exposure. Our dog found another
very
> wet little bird, a chipping sparrow, huddled under the deck, and we
thought
> that was another case of a bird falling in and barely getting out of the
> water. (BTW, that bird also lived through its experience.)
> We had seen the frog swimming along the edge of the pond as birds walked
on
> top of the rocks edging the pond, and it looked like stalking behavior,
but
> it still seemed hard to believe. But this time, the frog actually had the
> bird, by the neck, in its mouth, and was dunking it in and out of the
water.
> I think it was just trying to get a good grip. I separated them with a
poop
not
> move the frog there, because it would surely become dinner for one of
those
> predators!
> To all who wanted to see a picture of the "bad" frog:
> I don't have a way to do this right now, but we know it is a female
bullfrog
> (looked it up in the Reader's Digest "North American Wildlife"
guidebook),
> and when it is just sitting on a rock the way frogs sit, it measures
about
> Did you know that you can tell the age of a frog like you can a
tree.?>>>
You have to cut it in half and count the rings???
eeeeuuuuuwwwww
Jo
NJ
Did you know that you can tell the age of a frog like you can a
tree.?
Interesting ,. Jenny in Italy
Jenny Pizi
***********
jenpizi@tin.it
Cut it in half, and that's as old as it's ever going to get???
Barb in Southern Indiana Zone 5/6 dorsett@blueriver.net
Time is what keeps things from happening all at once.
Grin
lets hope that it`s not a Golden dart frog, the most poisoous frog
on earth, the skin of one frog can kill a thousand people.
Jenny in Italy getting ready to shoot again . :)
.
Jenny Pizi
***********
jenpizi@tin.it
Hi All,
Now I have seen the film clip on the bullfrog eating the bird by the
pond. It was a PBS special called "The Prince of the Pond".
Wow! I wouldn't have believed it.
June
