Teeny tiny tadpoles!

[Dmmetler]

It's way zoomed in and kind of where's waldoish-I'll try to get a better pic later, but we have some little tiny tadpoles in the back test pond. I'm kind of hoping the tadpoles grow before they get legs, because right now, they're probably a centimeter long, head to tail tip!

 

[Dmmetler]

And, the front pond has a larger visitor. Hopefully, he won't develop a taste for little tiny tadpoles/frogs!

 

 

[J-rap]

That's great!  One of my favorite projects growing up was collecting tiny microscopic tadpoles in the wilderness and putting them in our little backyard pond.  I loved watching them grow and change into frogs.  They were always the tiniest frogs too, about 1/2 inch long.

[gaillardia]

That is so much fun. We caught things that we thought were tadpoles a few times, escapes me what the heck we'd caught...haha. Another time or two we caught bull frog taddies, that was the best! Thanks for sharing your science project, catch, fun.

[Dmmetler]

Salamander or newt larvae can sometimes be mistaken for tadpoles. They're longer and skinnier.

 

DD has been building temporary ponds for three years to try to attract frogs to the yard, and I'd say she succeeded-we've had the bigger frogs for awhile, but this is the first time we've had the really early spring tadpoles. It will be interesting to see what kind of frogs they turn into (I'm guessing Spring Peepers or Cricket frogs-we can hear both at night, and both are tiny).

 

 

[Dmmetler]

You should still be fine. The frog season is different for different species. We haven't seen any signs of grey or green tree frog tadpoles yet (and only one adult frog), and they were the ones that used our pools for spawning last year.  Last year, we got tadpoles in May, but only had a few frog sightings before then.  And even if you miss tadpoles, you can still attract other things. The first year we did this, DD didn't start until the summer clearance sales started, in late June-and we still got Leopard frogs, bronze frogs, american toads, and lots of birds and small mammals who used the pond. We just didn't get tadpoles that year. And if you're farther north than we are, your season may be later. 

 

 

[Tsuga]

I haven't followed her research. So she set up a habitat for local species and these are them? Or is this part of a huge "aquarium"?

[Dmmetler]

Her research is focused on trying to find low cost temporary ponds to attract and encourage native species, with the goal of replacing the traditional "get tadpoles and watch them turn to frogs", which has some environmental risks unless you plan to keep a frog as a pet for several years, with setting up habitats and observing native species. Each pond is a 6' or 8' wading pool and costs about $20 to set up initially and maintain through a season (once you get the pool, the main cost is mosquito prevention-she uses mosquito dunks, which contain a bacteria that eats invertebrate larvae, but doesn't affect frogs-or, apparently snails, water striders, and diving beetles). The first year, she got Ranid frogs and toads to move in, but they didn't breed. Last year, she had ranids and hylids, with the hylids using the pond for breeding and staying close, and the ranids living in the ponds later in the year. This year, so far, she has different, earlier spawning hylid frogs using the ponds for breeding, and Ranid use from very early in the season.

 

It's not too late if anyone wants to build a pond and see what results you get-part of her goal in this season is to see if this is replicatable in other areas.

[Spryte]

Oh! We are putting in a pond this year, for turtles. 2 sliders and a map.

 

We'd love any tips, if your DD wants to share.

 

We've done a ton of research, still doing more. We are putting in an in ground pond, and hoping to encourage them to hibernate, but I am nervous about that, as our turtles have always been inside. We'll see, we might bring them back in, during cold weather.

 

If your DD has ideas or tips, we'd love to hear them, and we'll share pics of our progress. :)

[cintinative]

We still need plants in our test pond but we don't have any frogs or tadpoles yet. We're hoping for some toads maybe as we tend to get them in our yard a bit later in the year.

[Dmmetler]

It's early this year. Last year we got tadpoles in May, and frogs/toads started stopping by in mid-April. Some of the reptiles started coming out in February this year, and their active phase usually starts in early April. Usually the last frost date is when you can expect them to be more visible, except for salamanders, spring peepers, wood frogs and water turtles, all of which tend to come out early and are pretty cold hardy.

Edited March 21, 2016 by dmmetler