If you have a backyard pond, you can probably spot some frogs around it. Ponds are known to attract different kinds of amphibians, especially if your pond has a viable aquatic ecosystem.
Yes, there might be an ecosystem within your pond, which can accommodate some hungry frogs. So, you’re probably wondering, what do pond frogs eat?
Well, you’ve come to the right place!
In today’s article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about pond frogs and what they eat. Let’s dive into the details.
What Do Pond Frogs Eat?
Generally, most frogs aren’t picky about their food. In the wild, their diet depends on the type of food that’s already available around them.
Additionally, diet can differ from one species to another. Some frogs are pretty voracious and eat almost anything they can swallow.
On the other hand, some species are slightly selective and prefer certain types of food over others.
Pond Frogs Main Diet
Mostly, Pond frogs eat worms, snails, caterpillars, crickets, roaches, spiders, grubs, minnows, and almost any type of insects available.
In fact, many people use frogs to get rid of unwanted pests and insects. They’re basically a natural pest control mechanism.
Many insects can eat and damage pond plants. Additionally, some insects, like mosquitoes, can be harmful to humans.
Your little friends will be more than happy to get rid of them for you.
It’s common for tadpoles to eat algae, as they make an easy, nutritious meal. However, As they grow, they’ll start feeding on insects and other available food.
So, it’s uncommon to see adult frogs eating algae.
Other Food Frogs Eat
Frogs can eat small fish that can fit in their mouth. However, it’s not as often that you see them hunting down fish.
In some rare cases, you might come across an aggressive species, like the South American Horned frog. This species can eat fish and small vertebrates.
How to Keep Frogs From Eating Your Fish
There are some ways to keep your small fish safe from frogs’ reach. Let’s check them out:
Use Frog Repellents
You can prepare a DIY frog repellent with materials you can find around your household. That includes salt, vinegar, and ground coffee.
These components won’t harm the amphibians. Instead, they cause temporary irritation to their skin, which will make them stay away from the fish.
So, you can spray this natural repellent around your pond.
However, this spray is acidic, and it might harm some plants or change your pond’s pH levels if sprayed in large amounts.
Install Fencing or Pond Net
While it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing method to keep amphibians away, it gets the job done.
Ideally, the fencing should be made from fine mesh, and it should be at least two feet high.
Furthermore, in case you still have amphibians around, you can install a pond net to keep them from eating your fish.
The net is a more aesthetically pleasing option.
Feeding the Frogs
From their earliest stages of life, frogs are capable of finding food on their own. As a result, feeding them can disrupt their role in the food chain and the pond ecosystem.
To elaborate, when you feed them, they won’t hunt insects. Therefore, you’ll see an increased number of insects and pests around your pond.
This can only come in handy if you have small fish in your pond that you don’t want the amphibians to eat. Still, this should be a last resort.
To provide care for them, you can simply give them shelter from predators by adding plants around your ponds. Additionally, variegated grasses and iris can attract more frogs to join.
How Do Pond Frogs Catch Their Food?
Frogs have a unique method of catching their prey. They open their mouth and quickly stretch their tongue to catch the unsuspecting prey.
Frogs’ tongues are basically their secret weapons. For starters, their tongues can be around one-third of their entire body length.
They can also lift around 1.4 times their body weight with only their tongue.
What’s more surprising is that they can catch their prey in less than 0.7 seconds. That’s almost as fast as some people take to blink!
Generally, a frog’s long tongue contains thousands of mucus glands, which secretes a special sticky mucus. The mucus can guarantee that whenever prey the frog’s tongue comes in contact with will have nowhere to go.
That’s because the mucus spreads all over the nooks and crannies of the prey’s body. In fact, the saliva becomes thicker at this point to hold the prey on the way back to the frog’s mouth.
This mechanism is so powerful that the frog usually sits and waits for prey to come by. You rarely see a frog chasing its prey.
What’s more impressive is their ability to aim and catch targets. Many flying insects aren’t particularly easy to catch.
For example, flies can move quite fast and can be fairly hard to catch. However, they’re just an easy snack for frogs.
What Eats Frogs in a Pond?
Although frogs are fast and have good defense mechanisms, they’re still vulnerable to many predators. Additionally, as tadpoles, they’re almost defenseless.
Birds
There are many types of birds that love eating frogs.
For starters, birds that share the same natural environment as frogs are more likely to eat them regularly, like ducks and geese.
Additionally, other types of predator birds wait around ponds to catch some of them.
Here’s a list of some of these birds:
- Hawks
- Ravens
- Egrets
- Crows
- Seagulls
- Storks
- Owls
- Blue jays
Reptiles
Many reptiles that live around your pond enjoy eating amphibians. That includes snakes and different kinds of lizards, like chameleons, iguanas, and bearded dragons.
Of course, not all of them are present around every pond. However, frogs can attract snakes and lizards to your pond, as they make a delicious meal for them.
When adult male frogs call to attract females for mating, they might end up inviting unwanted visitors like hungry snakes.
Fortunately, this can only happen if they’re already present around your area.
Fish
Several types of fish can eat frogs. Most types of fish aren’t big on amphibians.
However, both the largemouth and the smallmouth bass have a big appetite for them. Both fish survive in ponds and shallow lakes.
So, they also share the same environment as the amphibians, which makes them an easy meal for them.
Mammals
Some small mammals eat frogs. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll spot large mammals doing so.
Here’s a list of some mammals that eat them:
- Raccoons
- Weasels
- Foxes
- Skunks
- Stoats
Other Frogs
While it’s not common, you might spot some frogs eating each other. It’s more common when you have more than one species inhabiting your bond.
This can also occur among tadpoles.
It typically happens when there is a limited amount of desirable food. However, amphibian researchers and scientists still can’t explain this behavior.
Can Goldfish and Frogs Live Together in a Pond?
Adult frogs and goldfish can live together in a pond. However, the situation can be a little complicated if they both aren’t similar in size.
To elaborate, both the amphibians and the fish can basically eat anything that can fit in their mouth. As a result, large frogs can eat small fish that they can swallow, and large fish can eat small frogs.
So, they both need to be of similar size to live together peacefully. If you want to introduce small goldfish to a populated pond, there are two ways you can do this.
First, you can feed the amphibians. With a full belly, they’re less likely to eat small goldfish. Second, you can get rid of all the amphibians or install a net over the pond to protect the fish.
You can also consider opting for a bigger species of fish, like koi and orfes.
Final Thoughts
So, what do pond frogs eat?
Mainly, they eat worms, crickets, spiders, roaches, mosquitoes, snails, and other types of insects. Additionally, they can eat small types of fish like minnows.
On the other hand, there are many predators that eat them.
That includes some birds, like hawks, ducks, and geese. Additionally, some fish like the largemouth and the smallmouth bass love to eat them.
Snakes and lizards enjoy eating them too. They also make a good meal for some small mammals, like raccoons, weasels, and foxes.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
--
If you want more backyard tips including recipes, how-tos and more, make sure you subscribe to my youtube channel