I have long since given up trying to predict or even figure out frog activities in our yard. We have a small (35 gallon) lily pond and a larger goldfish pond and frogs come and go,
Last winter, we had one fairly large bull frog that wintered in our larger pond. When he thawed out, he hung around for a week or so, then vamoosed. Or at least we thought he left.
Last month, I saw a nose peeking out in the small pond and thought it was a newly hatched tadpole, but it was a much larger frog which immediately ducked under. A week or so later, there was a loud splash at the goldfish pond, and I wondered about what would make that kind of entry. Then, last weekend, Nancy was weeding her flower bed near the small pond and spooked a huge frog in the grass – scared her, at first, and the frog, too. I think it may have been last spring’s bullfrog, who seems to have just been hanging around the yard, eating whatever would fit in his mouth. Most frogs stake out a pond as a home base, but not this frog, He just roams around. I call him The Wanderer. I have seen 4 smaller frogs at one time in the goldfish pond, but they are the skitziest frogs ever. In past years, we are able to actually hand feed some of our frogs. Not these guys. They spook as soon as they see a human face.
We haven’t seen the big frog since Nancy stirred him out of his hidey hole, but I expect he’s still around and my guess is that he’ll winter again in the pond.
But with frogs – who knows?
