It was time for the annual clean-the-muck-out-of-the-pond event. Oak leaves, acorns, twigs, and natural pond ick gather at the bottom over the course of the year, so each spring I get in the pond and clean it out (leaving a little sediment to keep the bacteria levels balanced). As I was making preparations, Michael came in and warned me that a rather loud splash as he walked by the pond might indicate that I might not be alone in said body of water while doing maintenance. In fact, I might just get eaten. Frog, I assumed. Given the splash, probably another American Bullfrog. And while I was correct, what I could not have predicted was that this frog would be as big as a planet. Well, almost.
It’s a little intimidating as the water level lowers in the pond (with you in it), knowing that at some point a fish, frog, or other critter is going to wiggle, squirm, jump, slide, or dart past you. After a while, the water was low enough that I could more easily get some of the oak leaves and other natural debris out, and I knew that meant I would soon encounter the creature. I intended to do my best not to squeal, shriek, or scream, the automatic reaction to things moving fast in the murky waters surrounding me. But when not just one but two frogs started jumping in opposite directions from the muck and then ping-ponging around the pond up, over, and under my legs, the squeals just naturally came. I couldn’t help it.
Eventually I got back to work, lowering the pond level more and rediscovering one of the frogs in the muck. Her belly, brown and rather alien-like, was what I noticed, and it’s what I gingerly had touched before when the frog ping-pong thing had happened. I wasn’t going to fall for it again. I KNEW that was the frog. What I did do was use the water to rinse enough of the muck away to at least find her head… and was that monstrous leg hers, too? Holy frog-moly, I thought. She’s huge.
And so the preparations for capture began. Nolan decided that he wanted the job, which was good because I could then get out and clean up enough to take pictures of the process. During the time the pond was temporarily human-less, the second frog managed to escape from the pond, and Big Momma at least managed to get herself out from under the pipe, which would make it much easier for us to get her out of the pond.
Fortunately, the big girl stayed calm while Nolan carefully collected her from the pond.
She definitely is larger than our former record-holder, Frogzilla. With a body length of about 8 inches (and crazy-long legs), she has now been dubbed The Behemoth, champion of whatever Great Stems frog contest this is. Really, she wins them all.
Even the beauty contests, perhaps, but only if the pond muck gets washed off first.
As much as we adore frogs, we’ve learned that American Bullfrogs are just too big for our hot-tub pond. They drive away the smaller native frogs (or worse, eat them). And they are capable of eating birds that come down to bathe and drink in the shallow areas of the pond. So during maintenance, if we have a chance to relocate a bullfrog, we do so.
There is a very large pond just beyond our neighborhood, and we expect it’s the pond she originally came from. And so that’s where we returned her to.
We invited our friend Stepan to join us for her release. In fact, we gave him the honor of helping her to her new home. She didn’t eat him either. But she could have.
Here she calmly waits for a few more pictures, by her new (and/or former) pond.
And there she went. I guess now she’ll be a small frog in a big pond, instead of the head honcho of a small pond, but somehow I think she’ll be happier. Our fish and birds will be happier, too.
Wow, that’s a big one! Although I’m delighted when any frog makes my small pond its home (I had a single leopard frog last year), one of this size would have me worried for everything else living here. Birds?! I had no idea.
Bullfrogs are voracious predators. You should search for the some of the many videos taken of them. You’ll see why that bullfrog was too mighty for my little pond!
That is a huge frog! My boys would be thrilled to hold one that size! How do you maintain your pond? Do you simply clean out what has settled at the bottom and call it a day or is there something else that has to occur to keep it healthy?
Karin, my pond really doesn’t need a lot of maintenance, other than the annual clean-up and dividing plants as necessary. But because it’s a hot-tub pond, over time a fair amount of debris can accumulate down at the bottom. Mainly I get oak leaves and some acorns and twigs, plus the sediment from plant and waste breakdown that will naturally build up. You need some of this muck, as I call it, to maintain normal bacteria levels, and I always keep this in mind — I don’t want to do a full empty of the pond. But I have found that it’s easiest for me to clean out the debris by lowering the water level fairly near the bottom (all that nutrient-rich water is excellent for watering plants around the yard, by the way). Then I get all the obvious leaves and twigs, etc., out and remove a lot of the mucky sediment. I leave some to keep bacteria in the water, and I leave the gravel in the filter falls alone, as it also contains a healthy bacteria quantity. That way, my pond gets right back to normal, which is important for the fish and other critters. The other reason for lowering the water is so that I can actually catch the fish and frogs and keep them safe in a tub while I finish the pond work.
Uuuuummmm, frog legs. I can’t believe you let him go. Would the owners of the big pond let me gig frogs there? Really, I want to know.
I told that frog to watch out — she might catch the eye of a hungry human. Little did I know it might be our very own Bob Pool!
You do know they are an invasive species? A very good tasting invasive species I might add.
Yep, they are invasive and very naughty. Apparently they are doing quite well despite being on the menu for many a cook.
Wow, a behemoth indeed! The mayor of the garden.
Really great pictures! Thoroughly enjoyed this…