Grass snakes in the pond

Hi, has anyone had problems with grass snakes in their ponds. I have a small pond in my garden and yesterday I saw a snake in the pond with a frog in its mouth(do snakes eat frogs} the frog broke free and swam off. I have noticed that the number of newts and frogs in my pond has dropped...could this be due to the snake. any suggestions please.

 

Yes, I should think the reduction in numbers is due to the snake. However they're not common at all now so maybe you're honoured. I found this:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:RExkhzbt8LYJ:www.sbap.org.uk/focal/herptls/gsnake.htm+grass+snake+diet&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1&ie=UTF-8
:( Perhaps you could catch it and move it to a bigger pond.

 

Thanks for your quick reply. The link you suggested was very informative, certainly sounds like thats where all the frogs and newts have gone.could catch it and release it elsewhere...they are a protected species and I wonder if it would be right to take it from its rightful habitat this could quite poss be illegal?

 

nature abhors a vacuum, so moving one will provide opportunity for another, an equilibrium will establish as far too many frogs are spawned to survive, make sure you provide top class facilities for your newts!

 

Hello Poppy - sorry if your snake is feeding on the newts - we have one in the pond now and again but I do not think it could eat a frog. Also the newts may be on the bottom.
We had a lot of small fish in our pond but I think that the snake may have had those.
Not seen any frogs at all this year - they seem to be getting scarcer.

 

Thanks Chobart for you reply, thats cheered me up...don't mind the snake passing by for the occasional snack. Quite a beautiful creature but would like a few Newts left. Yes there do seem to be less frogs this year, mine all spawned in Feb and then we had some sharp frosts and the pond froze over, I expect that must have killed off the spawn.