How My Folks Raised Tree Frogs in Their Backyard

The gray tree frog in my Mom's mailbox who became the inspiration for her children's book, Thaddeus Tree Frog.

SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019: Happy LGBT+ Pride Day, folks! I'm still reading, researching, and stressing about how we humans might be able to get the thrown-off blooming schedule of Arctic phytoplankton back on track. Meanwhile, I thought I'd like to write a little about my parents' informal tree frog restoration project that took place in their little garden pond in Tennessee back in the late 90's and early 2000's. It was actually the frogs' idea, but my folks (especially my Mom) were all too willing to play along--and play an active role in taking care of a few generations of tree frog tadpoles in their spare time. This is a fun activity that nearly anyone with a backyard pond, tree frog neighbors, and a little free time can participate in as part of the effort to restore local and regional populations of amphibians--if the tree frogs think your artificial pond works as a breeding site, that is. In fact, my Mom's experience of feeding, observing, and playing with tadpoles contributed to the story she wrote as a children's book a couple of years ago, Thaddeus Tree Frog. I'm a fan of the main character, Thaddeus; so it stands to reason that he'd get a blog post here sooner or later.

Tree frogs are tiny amphibians with really big voices; and they court their mates by singing to them--loudly. During mating season, moreover, tree frogs in mountainous eastern Tennessee must often go to great lengths to find bodies of water in which to lay and fertilize eggs. Thus it happened, in the Cumberland County hamlet of Fairfield Glade, that a polygamous male tree frog discovered that my folks had a small artificial pond in their backyard that appeared to be an acceptable breeding spot; and set to work coaxing his bevy of wives (in a booming baritone croak) out of the trees and up to the stone-lined pond. This ritual, according to my Mom, occurred several times over the course of a week or so.

To make a long story marginally shorter, the next thing my folks knew, their little garden pond was soon filled with hundreds of tree frog tadpoles, of varying sizes and stages of development, by several different mothers. My Mom wasn't sure what they were supposed to be eating; but she began gathering rocks covered in algae from nearby drainage channels, and placing them in the pond, where the phytoplankton was happily consumed by the tadpoles. Every few days, she would collect the cleaned rocks from the pond, and replace them with new algae-covered specimens. She also supplemented this natural nutrition with finely-ground fish food several times a week. I told my Mom that those little critters probably worshipped her by now--"The Mother Goddess who sends food floating down into their little watery world!"

As the tadpoles developed, my folks began noticing interesting features of their behavior as well. Some were more shy and reserved; some were more assertive; and some were even playful, as my Mom discovered when she found a parade of them pushing a piece of dried grass from one end of the pond to another one day. Soon she was joining in on the fun, dropping pieces of grass and leaves into the pond, and inviting the tadpoles to push them around, which they sometimes did. As my folks shared their tadpole-raising experience with friends and neighbors, word got around; and a number of friends, acquaintances, and even total strangers began driving up to the house, asking to "see the babies." In time, the tadpoles grew bigger, sprouted legs and shrank their tails; and before too long, they left the pond several at a time, and headed for the trees, loudly singing in chorus.

This tree frog clan used my folks' garden pond to raise tadpoles a few years in a row, though subsequent generations didn't attract quite the same notice as that first bunch. In any case, I write about this as one example of how wild species can interact with human structures like gardens to raise generations of offspring and keep their populations at healthy levels in developed localities. Obviously, it's not a good idea to make "pets" out of them; but if home-owners are open to the process, generations of amphibians, birds, reptiles and other creatures can make use of backyards, artificial ponds, trees and nearby wooded areas to aid in raising their families in safety, away from both predators and human-caused habitat destruction.