# "local" frogs



## DKOOISTRA (May 28, 2009)

I live in the west michigan area and every year the back of my house is covered with grey tree froglets. In the past, i didnt think anything of it, now though after reading up and building some vivs i got to wondering. In the back of my house i have some of the largest hostas ive ever seen, and i wondered if maybe they were using them the way our pdf's use broms...
its cool coming home at night and counting the number of frogs on my windows... i havent read anything on their breeding habits, and im probably in left field but the thought is kinda neat. 
my other thought is this, we spend a lot on vivs etc... shouldnt we also do our part for the local frogs? i plan to build over the winter a fountain/pond using the same "rock wall" technique used here. part something to do when the snows flyin, part a place for the frogs to hang at. landcaping at home can provide some pretty good habitat...


----------



## aquascott (Oct 18, 2006)

thier breeding stratergy/ecology/behavior is much diffrent from our darts. they can lay 1,000 of eggs usually in vernal pools and the tads dont get any free meals or transportation. you can do a few things to help these guys out let your backyard be as wild as you can. ie keep your cats indoors, dont use fertalizer in your lawn and plant some native plants and maybe make a little pool....just my two cents


----------



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

They'll hide in the crook of branches or brachs of leaves. I've actually got three or four resident gray tree frogs that sleep on some milkweed in front of my house because, I guess, it is the best spot to stay while waiting for night to fall so they can attack bugs around the lights.

The breeding behavior is quite different (they are pond breeders and will venture to the water to lay eggs).

As far as doing stuff for the wild populations, that is a most excellent idea. The best thing for frogs is to have ponds without fish. If you make a pond like that, they will come. You might consider looking at Treewalkers International. They have a project called Operation Frog Pond that promotes creating habitat for local frog populations.


----------



## Kgbower (Jul 9, 2009)

We have multiple species of tree frogs that make there way to our sliding glass door in the evenings, it is really cool to see all there little toe pads stuck up there, we have a pond in front of our house so we get all sorts of frogs, toads, turtles, and much more making there way into our yard.


----------

