Yesterday evening I was alerted to the call of two banjo frogs in our garden. I discovered the two frogs in our pond and they appeared to be fighting, although not too seriously. They were both calling but one was much louder than the other. I was pleased to see them as we have been hearing the calls recently but not actually seen the frogs. To my delight when I looked at the pond this morning there are two foam nests. The larger one attached to the vegetation at the side of the pond and the other floating loose. One of the frogs was hiding in the vegetation next to the large nest.

 The pond has been established for a few years now and we have had several lots of motorbike frog tadpoles. The pond was out of action for a year due to a leak which was fixed last december but the pump no longer works. So the pond has changed from having moving water to still. In fact although it is a fair size pond the water is a bit murkey. The information I have read also says that that now is not the usual breeding season for Banjo frogs. Any thoughts?

We live in Rockingham and always have lots of motorbike frogs in our garden, occasionally see a banjo frog and slender tree frogs. We have seen herons in the pond on a few occasions and sometimes have visits from a Rufous Hight Heron, acting suspiciously. Our neighbours also have a pond so easy pickings for frogs and tadpoles I think.

Banjo frog breeding season is usually winter to spring, so these guys are getting it on a little early.  I wonder if the change in the pond conditions has suited them perfectly and they just couldn’t wait to try it out! 

Each species of frog have evolved quite specific breeding requirements and sometimes it takes a bit of experimentation and attention to detail to create just the right habitat for all our beautiful native frogs in your own back yard.

I have written about this phenomenon before in Competitive Edge. As newly formed frogs emerge from the water they emit a hormone that inhibits the growth of tadpoles still in the water (it helps eliminate any competition for food). This hormone can build up in the water, after quite a few frogs have crawled out and the water level has dropped due to evaporation and the likes, and you can end up with taddies that seem to stay tadpoles for a year or more.

Before I knew about this little trick I had some tadpoles in my pond which had been there forever, so I bought them inside and put them in a fish tank to watch them and figure out why they weren’t growing. But within a week they all sprouted legs and started losing their tails. I quickly transferred them back outside and they continued on their journey through life. I wanted to know why so I did some research and that is when I learnt about the inhibiting hormone. I guessed it was the change of water which had the desired effect.

I advised Tim to try changing his water in his ponds, but he says he has already tried that. I wasn’t able to suggest anything else to help him with his problem.

Can anyone out their help Tim?

We can hear frogs in our backyard, but we have never been successful in seeing them. I suppose they are burrowing frogs.

How do we spot them?

Would a frog pond encourage them to come out?

This is how I answered Helens questions.

It can be hard to spot frogs sometimes and sometimes the sounds you hear could be other garden friendlies. For years I thought I was hearing a frog calling out of season in my yard but finally discovered it was a burrowing cricket (sandgroper – a very gruesome looking character, I can tell you!)

Try searching at twilight or night time with a torch around your water source (the light reflects from their eyes and stuns them so they are easier to spot). If you don’t have a pond or pool or other water source in your yard already, then it may not be a frog at all.

Frogs usually set them selves up near a suitable water source and then set about attracting a mate to this likely nursery. Some frogs will lay their spawn in wet soil, but these are specialist exotic types.

Happy hunting, Helen!

4 frogs have made a home in our spa which is full of water but without the chemicals, they hide under the cover. I am trying to make a frog pond so we can use the spa and not kill the frogs. Problem is, are they going to use the pond once we put the chemicals in the spa!

As I found out the hard way, it is difficult to keep frogs out of their favourite places when you need to. If your frogs are getting in even with the cover on then it may be impossible. The best you can do is put the chemicals in in the morning when they are hiding out and hope the water is less toxic by evening when your frogs will want to come out and play.

A new play ground may help. I always advise putting in a pond. Maybe introduce your frogs to it before you put the chemicals in your own water playground, but if your frogs are anything like mine, they will keep going back to your spa or pool.

My frogs swim in my pool all the time and it doesn’t seem to effect them, it’s only when we put in such high concentrations of chemicals to sanitise the water that it overwhelms them.

Good luck, Rae! I hope the whole operation goes smoothly for you.

My advice on getting taddies is to ask around. You will be surprised how many people have frogs in their backyards and are more than happy to share stories and tadpoles. It is best to get tadpoles from your immediate neighbourhood, within about a 5km radius, as that way the new frogs have ponds in their range and there is less possibility of spreading disease if you keep things close to home.

The WA Museum also has a tadpole register where you can register your name and contact details and if a suitable match comes up in your area they will hook you up!  Check out the website Frogwatch.

I hope this helps all those who are seeking taddies to start forming networks in their own communities and create a Tadpole Telegraph! What a fabulous way to bring people together in these troubled times. Save the frogs and make friends while you do it!

We have a large lake right next to our house (we are so lucky!!!), so I have built a pond. So far I have seen two motorbike frogs in the garden.

At the lake you hear hundreds of motorbike frogs, but you never hear any Slender tree frogs or any other frogs. In the pond there are tall rushes so I thought there would be. Is it possible that you can’t hear the slender tree frogs???

This is the answer I sent back to him.

I’m not one hundred per cent sure about your lake, and the frogs that might live in it, but I do know that it is possible for many varieties of frogs to live together in the same environment. I have been on a frog stalk at Herdsman Lake and seen, and heard, Motorbike frogs and Banjo Frogs and even Slender Tree frogs living together, and if you listen hard you can hear the different calls.

Banjo frogs have such a distinctive bonk, bonk sound and it is easy to distinguish from the Brrr, grok of the Motorbikes, but Slender Tree frogs have a high pitched screech or whistle and it can be hard to make out with the noisy Motorbikes around. They are also harder to spot, they blend in so well with their surroundings and are much smaller than a fully grown Motorbike frog. Motorbike frogs have also been known to accidentally eat a smaller frog so they really need to lay low and not be noticed.

I have heard that Motorbike frogs have become a bit of a problem at some sights because of this habit of eating anything that moves, including other frogs, as they sometimes end up making it difficult for smaller species to survive. Lets hope this isn’t happening at your lake! Regardless of this very natural aspect of frogs diets, the Motorbike frog is still my favourite, and all frogs need our help to survive.

Another thing to consider with frogs calls is the timing of their mating season. Banjo frogs breed in winter and spring, Motorbike frogs call in the summer, starting in November or December, but Slender Tree frogs are spring breeders. So maybe they have stopped calling by now.

I have been getting lots of questions lately about frogs, and I really enjoy researching and answering your emails. Keep them coming!

Recently, Julie Hutton from Bonking Frog Wines contacted me to ask if I had any idea why frogs at her winery seemed to like sitting on top of her verandah posts under a hot tin roof in the middle of the day. Why wouldn’t they seek a cooler place to rest?

I did some research and found that this occurence has been documented before by Mickael J. Tyler in his book Australian Frogs : A Natural History. He noted that far from roasting in the scorching conditions, the frog’s internal temperatures were 10 degrees below the ambient temperature! Julie and I therefore agreed that if several frogs were vying for this position, then that must be the place to be!

Julie also had this to say about frogs and her fabulous property:

I love frogs, which influenced our label – I knew the name was a bit out there, and I hesitated to use it for awhile, but the frogs kept popping up everywhere, in my boots, in the bathroom, congregating behind the cushions on the verandah – in the end I thought they’re trying to tell me to go for it! And as we are trying to create a sustainable vineyard, having a healthy frog population is a great indicator of how we are going. Plus the name makes me smile and most people like it – although some get a bit grumpy. We’ve copped a serve in our local paper recently, because someone thought the name was obscene – thankfully he’s the exception.

I’m also trying to follow the ‘Bonking Frog’s example – when he starts up his call can be heard over all the other frogs – and as a small wine label in a very over crowded market, we need to stand out from the crowd, just like him.

I’ve started packaging frogs with our wines in gift packs at Christmas time
- mainly for friends, but they proved so popular I’ve added a couple to our website and hopefully other people will like them – I’m having the best time going to distributors looking for frogs, I’ve got them in all shapes and sizes.

We are very small and the cellar door is also our home, visitors are welcome 7 days a week and we have tastings on our verandah. Because we are so small we always say if someone would like to make sure we are home, just give me a ring on 0408 930 332 beforehand and I can make sure I’m around.

I’ve started a ‘frog watch’ photo diary of our frogs, which I’m showing to visitors, because so many are like us ‘frog lovers’. Although I had a visitor recently who was terrified of them, she had heart palpitations when the pot plants rustled – I didn’t dare tell her there was three sitting above her head in the rafters She was a lovely lady, poor thing just found frogs really scary.

I wonder if this lady’s name was Helen?

Thanks Julie, and thank you to all my visitors who take time to contact me with frog stories or questions or who post comments to my stories.

The photos in this story were supplied by Julie Hutton of Bonking Frog Wines.