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Frogs in the Rain

Last night we had one of those wonderful all night gentle rains that makes my garden plump out in all it's colorful finery. Another enjoyable aspect of the rain is the symphony of tree frogs that surround my house as they perform their strange and other worldly sounds. The rain seems to make them come alive even though I'd heard little from them in recent weeks or months. I suppose this is their mating time because after a rain I usually find my bogs and water filled planters alive with squirming tadpoles. For some reason they seem to love it here and I love having them. It makes me feel like I live in a healthy natural environment. I suppose if you're not accustomed to them, they could become a little disconcerting and annoying, but not to me. I welcome them with open ears. They don't sound like typical frogs. Some almost sound like a dog barking, while some sound just like sheep, and others, well, it's hard to describe, but they are quite surreal.

Early on I installed 2 ponds here because I love water plants. This is when I first discovered the tadpoles. It was like magic because they simply appeared out of nowhere. As they turned into frogs, it was even more amazing because the smallest ones were the size of a pea, hopping around the concrete pad beside the pond. I was enthralled at yet another of nature's astounding marvels. They usually grow to a 3 or 4 inch length and they tend to hang out in the most unlikely places, such as in crevices near the patio roof or inside light fixtures. Once I was pulling my front door shut when my fingers touched something squishy. I found a light colored 3 inch tree frog in the hollow space behind the door handle. I encouraged him to find a new sleeping lounge. Twice I've found one on my shower wall, but I have no idea how they got inside the house.

My first personal experience with tree frogs was in Atlanta when a friend took me to an old dilapidated house he owned in the country. He wanted to give me the 6 solid oak columns that once stood on the front porch. Out back was a large horse trough filled with water and tadpoles. I found a jar and scooped a bunch of them up, took them home and added them to one of my ponds. I didn't really know they were tree frogs until they grew and started singing from the trees. I'm not sure all my neighbors were thrilled with their loud sound, much louder than my current residents. It didn't matter because by the next year I could hear them on another street. For some unknown reason they decided to move on.

My next experience with frogs came one Sunday afternoon when a group of us drove up to Tallulah Falls and Gorge north of Atlanta. I recently read that Tallulah Gorge was north Georgia's first tourist attraction, really taking off when the train arrived in 1882. In 1970 Karl Wallenda, of the famous circus tight rope walking family, walked across on a high wire stretched across the gorge. Anyway, my friends and I hiked down to the bottom to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The base was solid rock in many places, as is much of the area surrounding Atlanta. On what used to be the river bottom before the power company started controlling the flow to turn it into electricity, were some large circular “ponds” cut into the rock. I don't know if the ponds are natural or man made but you can see them in a photo on the Tallulah Gorge website. Inside the ponds were lots of big fat tadpoles. I found a discarded cup and asked the tadpoles if anyone wanted to move to the city. I had several volunteers. I brought them home, added them to one of my ponds where they promptly ate all of the baby goldfish. I suppose if the fish had been larger, they would have dined on the tadpoles. It is a dog eat dog world after all. Those tadpoles turned out to be bull frogs with a rich deep bass sound. What a treat. Ribbitt. By the way, I now know I should not have taken the tadpoles, because , like wildflowers, if too many people do this, they will vanish from the wild and none of us wants that. Please do not remove any living thing from the wild.

I've read that frogs are like the proverbial canary in a coal mine. In case you're not familiar with the concept, coal miners used to take caged canaries down into the coal mines with them for protection. The canaries are very vulnerable to dangerous gases in the air, so if the canary suddenly died, the miner knew he'd better get out of there as fast as possible or he'd be next. Likewise, frogs are super sensitive to the many toxins we carelessly spread about our earth in the form of fertilizers, insecticides and other pollutants. Frogs have been around since the days of the dinosaurs, but now they are vanishing in large numbers all around the world. Some of the reasons are destruction by bulldozer of their fragile habitats, loss of food sources, pollution, climate change and a fungal disease called chytrid. Like the miner with a dead canary, we should probably get out of here fast, but we can't. It seems to me if we don't change our destructive ways and change them now, we might eventually follow the unfortunate path of the vanishing frogs.

Mosquito Facts & West Nile Virus Update

Mosquito, the name is Spanish for little fly. There are 3000 different kinds of mosquitoes and a worldwide population of 100 trillion!! Most are in tropical climates, but there are mosquitoes in arctic and desert regions.

They can fly up to 10 mph, dart between raindrops and even fly backwards. Most live and die close to where they hatch, but some are strong flyers that travel many miles in search of a victim. 

Only female mosquitoes bite. They require a blood meal in order to develop eggs to make more mosquitoes. Most female mosquitoes lay their eggs on standing water. Stagnant ponds, ditches and fresh or salt water wetlands are favorites, but even a few tablespoons of water in a flower pot or old auto tire will do. The eggs hatch, become swimming larvae, then pupae and finally flying adults. Mosquito larvae are an important source of food for certain fish, birds, bats and other animals. To reduce Mosquito infestation we recommend using the following products  Mosquito Bits or Mosquito Dunks.  A SkeeterVac is a long term and highly effective solution for eliminating mosquitoes . SkeeterVac's  patent pending scientifically proven technology  creates an atmosphere biting mosquitoes can't resist: warmth, water vapor, carbon dioxide and odorants. Then it finishes off the job by trapping and killing those biting pests so your outdoor experiences are safer and more enjoyable.

What's being done about Mosquitoes and what you can do.

In their quest for blood, mosquitoes may bite birds, frogs, snakes, and mammals, including people. Some, called peridomestic mosquitoes actually live and breed around homes just to be near us.

24 hours or so after hatching, a female mosquito flies off in search of a meal. She homes in on body warmth, odor, moisture and the carbon dioxide we exhale. When she bites, the mosquito injects a bit of saliva that slows coagulation so blood flows freely. It's your body's allergic reaction to the saliva that caused the welt and itching sensation.

Mosquitoes can also transmit canine heartworm, which is fatal to dogs once contracted. For protection, pet owners can purchase a preventative medicine from their veterinarian.

Generally, the trend in the U.S. is away from spraying adult mosquitoes with chemicals. Whenever possible, government health authorities control large tracts of mosquito breeding land by larviciding. They use low toxicity biopesticides like B.t.i. (Bacillius thuringiensis subspecies israelensis), a live bacteria that's deadly to mosquito larvae, harmless to other living things.

The mosquito that bit you last night may have hatched in the birdbath right in your own back yard. At home or with school or community groups, you can effectively reduce mosquito problems using common sense and environmentally-conscious methods.

Organize a neighborhood cleanup. Its great community project that will eliminate lots of potential mosquito breeding spots and improve the view! Look for places where rainwater collects and stands. Old car tires, drain flower pots, children's wading pools and tree holes.

Goldfish and fresh water minnows (Gambusia affinis) will both eat mosquito larvae. Microbe Lift is an ideal supplement to protect pond areas for excessive mosquito hatchlings. Check with your local mosquito control agency about availability and local regulations. Flush birdbaths and fountains weekly. Clean clogged gutters and drains, cover cesspools.

Let Yardiac.com help you!

Fortunately Yardiac.com is there to help and protect you from the health risk mosquitoes present. When you can't flush or drain stagnant pools, low-lying wet areas, tree holes, unused swimming pools and rain barrels, use a B.T.I. product like Mosquito Bits or Mosquito Dunks.