Natural Wonder: Build a Pond, Frogs Will Come
Question: We would like to have frogs in our yard, not get rid of them like your June 4 reader. We have plenty of room, shade, bushes and good hiding places and have made some “hide-outs” with pots as you suggested. We also have ponds beneath the ivy. But what kind would live here?
T.S.
Northridge
Answer: According to Kent Beaman, collections manager of the herpetology section at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the species you’re most likely to find in your backyard are the bullfrog (an introduced rather than native species), the Pacific tree frog (also called the Pacific chorus frog) and the Western toad. The toads are larger and bumpier, the frogs smaller. All three species are fairly adaptable.
Most wetlands experts strongly caution against purchasing and stocking backyard ponds with amphibians. The animals may be unsuitable for the environment you’re putting them in; they may survive but compete with native frogs already in the area; or they may be diseased. So stick with the type that arrive on their own.
As long as you have all the necessary ingredients, and it sounds as if you do, a little patience is the last requirement. It may take a year or two before amphibians make their way to your pond, but chances are if they’re in the area, they’ll eventually find your habitat.
Once you have frogs and toads, don’t worry if you wake up one day and discover they’re gone. Frogs and toads are mobile, but they or others will probably be back. If your habitat is adequate, they may leave some tadpoles.
To improve the habitat, let the ponds age and develop algae that tadpoles will feed on. Place stones at the edge of the ponds so the frogs can get back out once they’re in. Avoid introducing fish that might eat the frogs. Keep pets away so they also won’t eat any frogs.
Be sure your ponds are surrounded by plants, preferably natives, that will attract insects the frogs eat and provide cover from the sun and predators. Keep pesticides out of the yard and set your lawn mower on the highest setting to avoid killing them.
To learn more about building, installing and maintaining a great pond, check out this useful Web site: https://www.cciw.ca/ecowatch/adoptapond/urbanoutback.
Bleach, Used Carefully, Is Safe for Birdbaths
Q: Your advice to use a bleach mixture to clean a birdbath sends a dangerous message. Bleach should never be used around birds; the fumes alone could kill a small bird. Many birdbaths are made of a porous material, and the bleach would be absorbed and then reenter the water used to fill it. Surely there is a less toxic disinfectant or cleanser that would be used for this job.
M.H.
Los Angeles
A: After checking and double-checking, I stand by my recommendation. That is, in light of any new evidence that shows cleaning the bath once every two months with a dilute mixture of one part bleach to 10 parts water is dangerous to birds.
You’re quite right to be concerned about the use of chlorine bleach around animals, as we also should be with the use of pesticides and other chemicals that are poisoning the environment and watershed.
Although I agree in principle that the use of these products should be minimized, it must be weighed against the value they have in preventing the spread of diseases that are equally harmful.
Because birdbaths are communal and the feces that collect there are one of the leaders in the spread of avian diseases, they really have to be sanitized. There are no other products I know of that disinfect as well, although you might try powder bleach like Borax, which is more water-soluble than liquid bleach. In this case use one tablespoon bleach to 10 cups water.
To reduce the effect on birds, rinse the bath really well after bleaching and let it dry before refilling with fresh water. Be compulsive and rinse it a few times if need be.
You can also minimize the spread of disease by using a stiff brush to scrub the birdbath every other day. Refill with fresh water afterward.
Submerged Fencing Fails to Stop Gophers
Q: I saw your column about gophers and ground squirrels on March 21. We have a similar problem with a large slope going down behind our medium-size flat backyard. We will never eliminate the gophers from the slope, but what do you think about digging an underground fence or barrier that will block gophers from entering the yard? We now have a fence with a minimal foundation. If replacing or supplementing it with a deeper foundation will stop gophers, it’s probably worth the trouble.
B.K.
Anaheim
A: Great minds may think alike. Like you, I was so determined to find a way to cohabit with the gophers when I bought my one-acre property in a semi-rural area that I hired a crew to dig a 5-foot trench around the perimeter and install an underground fence of hardware cloth.
After two days and just 5 feet of progress I nixed the project. I could have built a modern Taj Mahal for less at that rate.
Biologists have studied the effectiveness of underground gopher fences for more than half a century. The long and short of it? The little critters continue to befuddle scientists. Burrows have been reported at 6 1/2 feet deep, and at this point it’s anybody’s guess how far down they can tunnel. It’s even been suggested that some of the deeper runs may be communal, like underground freeways--an unhappy prospect for gardeners, to be sure. Unless you can afford to dig to bedrock, ditch the project.
To protect our two 6- by 10-foot raised garden beds, we lined them on the bottom with hardware cloth, deciding not to worry about an incursion over ground since that’s pretty rare with gophers. The hardware cloth worked like a charm, even with the efforts of a gopher trying his hardest to get in, as evidenced by the many new mounds ringing our garden plots.
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Got critter conflicts? Send your queries to wildlife biologist Andrea Kitay at P.O. Box 2489, Camarillo, CA 93011, or via e-mail to andrea@livingwithwildlife.com. Please include your name and city. Questions cannot be answered individually. Visit https://www.livingwithwildlife.com to see answers to frequently asked questions.
