Frogs Spawn and Newts

I have just been told that if you have a lot of newts in the pond you won't get frogs spawning in the same pond, is this true as I have never heard of this before.

We have newts and the frogs didn't spawn in the same pond this year but I never thought that was the reason.


Shirley

 

Not true Maurice, frogs will spawn in a pond with newts BUT then the tadpoles become an easy source of food for them. I had four large clumps of spawn (not as many as others on here) and there Smooth and Palmate newts in the pond. I have removed the spawn to a large tub with the same pond water and the tadpoles are growing well free from predators.

 

I never realised that newts would eat tadpoles and I did transfer some of the tadpoles into the pond with the newts as our small pond was so full of them I won't do that again.

thanks for your reply

 

newts do eat frog and toad tadpoles
so do blackbirds, last summer i witnessed a blackbird what i thought kept going to the pond for a drink several times, on closer inspection it was helping itself to tadpoles which had massed in the shallows
i now have a some chiken wire arched over the ponds containing tadpoles

 

We thought that the tadpoles were beginning to thin out, it doesn't seem that the tadpoles have much of a chance of survival.

 

Our dog loves to drink from our pond - and we are convinced she's getting some extra protein in her diet too!!!!! :dh:

 

Or we'd be knee deep in frogs!. :hehe:

 

frogs really are one of the gardeners best friends
i love them
natural born killers (of slugs LOL)

 

I seperate the frog spawn just leave a bit for the newts, I also net the spawn out of the koi pond where a lot of the frogs insist on going to spawn,it's placed in containers all over the garden were the tadpoles develope into frogs in relative safety.