moster fish-eating-frog

16 years ago

over the past few weeks we have "observed" a frog in our pond. usually we hear the plunk of it jumping in the water and a little action as it scurries into the deep (5' deep pond) but we have never had the chance to really see this frog. also, over the past few weeks we have been loosing fish. 2 koi about 8 inches long got dropsy and could not be saved, one butterfly koi was found dead and looked like he had been beaten to death (bruising and battered fins) and 2 days ago another koi, about 4 inches long went totally missing. no note to say he left, no charges to his credit card ... just vanished.

yesterday while vacuuming out the pond i saw it - the monster frog from the deep. OMG its huge - its massive. probably from nose tip to bottom a good 8 inches long. appears to be solid deep brown with distinctive white "toes" that flash when it swims. it tended to huddle into the algae on the bottom (and wasnt very happy that I was vacuuming out his hiding place) and occasionally float to the surface for a breath.

Could this big guy have anything to do with my dead/missing fish ? he certainly looked big enough to gulp a fish. should I remove it ? where could it have come from ? I live in the city - nothing but concrete and buildings around, and I have introduced nothing but a couple of fish over the past year. I like the idea of having a frog to eat the slugs that chew up my hostas, but DANG, is he gonna chew up my fish, tooo?

I have been treating the pond with melafix and pimafix (gosh, i love the way they smell) but now I wonder if its the frogs doing, not some disease. the remaining fish seem very healthy so far.

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Comments (9)

ademink
16 years ago
Nope, not your frog. I know that they CAN eat fish but the likelihood is very slim.

Mine is a bird-eater - I have photos to verify it. Quite a sight to behold WOW. lol

Anyway...sounds like you have disease issues coupled w/ perhaps a predator. Raccoon or neighborhood cat.

Sorry for your losses!
annedickinson
16 years ago
Something to consider regarding the dead koi that was beaten and battered is the possibility of that being the result of mating. I don't know if that applies to your fish, but thought I'd mention it.

A frog that large showing up in the city is amazing.
Anne
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old_house_j_i_m
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the replies.

Aaemink, I know we have/had some kind of infection - thankfully we have that under control (I hope) since the water is testing well and we are still on meds for the fish.

Pashta, it is amazing - we never saw any tadpoles or young frogs so either it was an expert at hiding (or invisible up till a few weeks ago) or someone dropped it into the pond. Which, the more i ponder that, the more I watch the weird neighbor kid ...
pat_c
16 years ago
"Could the frog be eating your fish?" Absolutely (tho' I agree with the others that there may be other reasons.) I had a huge frog last year who repeatedly ate some of my goldies (big ones too!) I first noticed a good sized goldie laying beside the pond. Was still alive so I returned it to the pond and said, "hmmmm." Next day, saw a flash of gold out of the pond. When I rounded the pond, I saw him, Mr. Frog with a goldie tail hanging out of his mouth! I chased him, but he jumped into the pond and submerged. A little later he was sitting on the edge of the pond with the goldie. Surprised me, but did keep the fish load in check!
old_house_j_i_m
Original Author
16 years ago
ok, its decided, im going frog hunting. I really dont like the idea of buying expensive koi food for an errant frog. There is a river near by, ill drive the bugger there - that is if I can catch it, hes real fast ... wish me luck
lsst
16 years ago
I did have a huge( salad plate size) bullfrog that was eating our fish.
Quite a few of our fish had gone missing and one night, I saw the frog with a fish head first down his throat.
We caught the frog and relocated it to a lake about 10 miles away.
ccoombs1
16 years ago
A bullfrog will eat whatever it can fit in it's mouth including fish and birds. I actually saw a video of a bullfrog eating a bird that wandered too close to the pond. I would relocate that thing ASAP!!

The easiest way to catch him is to do so at night. Get a bright flash light and shine it on him. Then quickly scoop him up in a net. That's exactly how you "gig" for bullfrogs in the wild, except you will use a net instead of a gig since a gig won't do your liner a bit of good! Best of luck!

Cindy
old_house_j_i_m
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks all for your thoughts on ridding my pond of the frog, sadly (?) something else did it for me the very day I was going to hunt him down and move him. see my other post about the CRAZY frog update.
catherinet
16 years ago
I guess what goes around, comes around, eh?