You may have seen these amphibians in your garden.
What do you know what they like to eat?
You’re right, insects!
This is why it’s important to use what repels frogs and toads.
This will help keep them out of your garden, where they can destroy your plants and vegetables.
Many different repellents work very well at keeping these pesky creatures away from your home, but what repels frogs and toads is the most efficient!
What repels frogs and toads
Many people claim that these toads are easily repelled by the sound of a can of tuna being opened or by imitating the sound of a dog barking.
Toads and frogs have keen hearing, and these noise deterrents may work, especially at night when they sleep.
But what is the science behind these noise deterrents?
As a kid, I remember going into my grandparent’s house after being out in the yard.
Although there was no smell, we could still hear a lot of buzzing and hopping around.
As soon as I opened up their can of sardines, all activity ceased.
These fishy scented sardines were not only deadly to cats and dogs that tried to get it but also affected frogs or toads.
The smell of sardines is beautiful for some species of amphibians, like bullfrogs and green frogs.
But why do they call them to cane toads?
Cane Toads are native to eastern Australia from Cape York Peninsula south to Tasmania and west through southeastern Australia.
They prefer wetlands or habitats with high humidity but will live in any place close to water, such as farms, parks, golf courses, gardens or the edges of roads.
Cane Toads are not native to South Africa.
However, they have been introduced here on a few occasions, so we must be vigilant and on the lookout for them in our gardens and ponds!
Cane Toads are known to change colour from greyish brown to black when touched or threatened.
They range from about 3-12 inches long depending on their age (juveniles only grow up to 25mm).
But they can grow up to 16cm long – even growing their little legs!
They weigh around 200g when they are born, and 1.4kg’s as adults!
What they like to eat
Frogs and toads are carnivores.
They will eat what they can catch, such as insects, worms, slugs, and even small fish.
Frogs typically do not like seeds.
Their food may be divided into two categories: The active predators or the sit-and-wait predators.
Frogs, active predators, tend to catch the prey by grabbing it with their front legs and holding it with their tongue.
Some may even swim in water with a frog being held safely under their chin until they find an area of land for feeding.
Frogs such as American bullfrog (“Rana catesbiana”) and green frogs (“Rana clamitans”) are examples of this category of frogs.
The other kind of frog is called sit-and-wait predator, as its name suggests that they “sit” on a hiding place (like a rock) for long time periods, waiting for prey to come by.
They use their tongue and the surrounding water for smelling and locating the prey.
Once they have found it, they will catch and eat it without moving a muscle.
The North American green frog (“Rana clamitans”) is an example of this category of frogs too (as well as most other frogs).
Many times, the food that its size could determine what a frog eats.
The larger species of frogs tend to eat larger pieces of food, such as insects or fish.
Smaller species of frogs would rather have smaller things like larvae (which are tiny worms), crickets, and even mites in their diet!
Professor Don Brueggen from Vanderbilt University says that “the Large Treefrog will only eat the larva of the Noctuidae moth family, which eat plants.” He also said that a “frog’s tongue is critical to them, for they use it when capturing food.
Frogs use their tongues as nets. They open their mouth and let it hang down into the water or off of leaves, and any prey that comes in contact with its tongue gets stuck on it.”
A fascinating frog is called the African bullfrog (“Pyxicephalus adspersus”).
It has poison glands on both sides of its lips, which helps protect this frog from predators.
This poisonous muscle tissue must be removed before you can safely eat it (which means you should not try to do so yourself.)
The poison glands are very effective at killing insects, spiders, and mites.
These glands are located on the upper lip, inside its mouth area; they are invisible when you look at it straight on, but to one side of him (or her) will show a brown patch covering his chin area.
A frog’s tongue can move in many directions: It has ribs that help it hold onto whatever it’s holding onto, just like humans do with their fingers!
How repellents work
There are several repellent products that you can buy to keep frogs and toads away.
These all work by emitting an odour or vapour that the animals do not like.
Some will produce sound waves or vibrations that are too high or low for them to hear, while others emit an electric shock.
Do these work?
For what animals?
How long do they last?
Will other creatures be similarly repelled by them (such as birds)?
There are many different types of frog and toad repellents.
They all use chemistry in one way or another. Some make loud noises that hurt the hearing of the frogs and toads.
Some release what is called a “smell”, which most human noses cannot even smell because we are used to it.
In contrast, others create an electric shock with small electrical currents running through a wire-like material to disrupt what the bugs feel on their skin.
Each kind of repellent has its own name, but almost all have been tested by professionals and are shown to be effective in one way or another.
However, what is most likely confusing to consumers are the different brands and names of what appears to be similar products.
One brand will have an active ingredient that may seem like the same thing as another company has in its product, but what does it mean?
How does this affect what animals (such as a frog) feel from being exposed to this chemical?
Most chemicals that scientists use need a scientific name (a CAS number for Chemical Abstract Service).
Humans cannot pronounce these numbers or letters, so we give them names made up by someone who originally discovered the chemical’s existence.
When we put this name into a search engine, for example, Google, we can pull up what information our search engine can find about this substance.
The CAS number is what scientists use when writing about what a certain chemical does to what animals or humans may experience.
What repellents are most efficient for keeping them away from your home
I use an organic repellent called “You’re Welcome” to keep the frogs and toads away from my home.
It does an excellent job of keeping them away, and it’s also safer for our environment because it doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals.
This is what I use to keep the frogs and toads away from my home.
I would also recommend an organic repellent called “Critter Ridder.” It’s what I’ve been using for years, and it works great.
The only downside is that you need to reapply after every rainstorm (which can be a bit of a pain but usually takes less than 5 minutes), so if you don’t mind spending some time reapplying your repellent, then this is probably what you want.
What you should do if they’re already in your garden.
If you’re dealing with toads and frogs that are already in your garden, the best thing to do is find a way to keep them out of your garden.
One simple way is by using plants that they don’t like.
For example, if you’re dealing with a frog infestation, plant invasive plants that emit an unpleasant smell. Invasive plants give the frogs and toads a bad taste so that they won’t come back.
Another way is by using barriers to keep them out of your garden in the first place.
You can use pretty much anything easy to customize around what you’re trying to block off.
For example, if you have a large enough pool, fill it with water instead and put some rocks around it – frogs are afraid of getting into deep waters.
If this isn’t an option for you, consider planting flowers or shrubs along with the areas you don’t want the animals coming through – see what works best for you!
Once they’re already inside your garden (commonly due to breeding), what do I do?
It’s important to take care of the animals that have already entered your garden before you start preventing them from entering.
Usually, what happens when a frog or toad is in your soil is it does what it can to get what it wants – this includes laying eggs and spreading its waste around.
The waste that these frogs produce will seep into the soil and contaminate what you’re growing with fertilisers, diseases and other harmful substances.
This is especially dangerous for children because many young kids like to put their hands in the dirt without washing beforehand.
If you’re dealing with breeding amphibians in your landscape, make sure to do something about them ASAP!
It’s best if you remove both genders (if possible) so they stop breeding.
However, if you’re only able to get rid of one gender or if they’re too hard for you to reach, make sure that what’s in the ground is removed before it harms what you want to plant there.
From our experience here at Landscape Services, we’ve found two main ways that work best:
1) The manual way: dig them out by hand!
It’s not what most people would like to do, but it works best and will produce the least amount of problems in your garden.
If done correctly, this method can save a few steps in the later stages. Start digging around where you think their nests are (if possible).
It may be difficult for a beginner gardener with no prior experience to reach what’s underground, but if you’re careful enough, it can be done!
2) The chemical way: use chemicals to remove what’s in the soil.
This works best for simple ground problems and is especially useful if you’re encountering breeding males or females that have just laid eggs.
If you want to handle breeding frogs and toads, this method will kill the young ones while allowing what you want to grow in your garden to stay intact – what a win/win situation!
One of the most popular pesticides we’ve found at Landscape Services is called “Rid-A-Frog”.
It uses bacillus thuringensis (Bt for short), which is a bacteria that produces toxins.
The great thing about Bt is that it’s biodegradable, and what you’re left with can be used as fertilizers, which makes for a nice cycle!
3) The organic way: use what’s around you to remove what’s in the soil.
We’ve found that what works best for what we do (growing food) is what’s around us, so it makes sense to take what we get from nature and place it around our area to repel what we don’t want!
Corn gluten meal is one of the most effective ways of preventing frogs and toads from entering your garden.
When you spread a couple of pounds of corn gluten meal at an interval of 18 inches apart, there won’t be anything eating something else – including your plants!
Conclusion
If you’re looking to keep frogs and toads away from your yard, several different repellents can be used.
You’ll want to consider the size of the area they need protection against, as well as what type of animals might enter it, before deciding on which repellent is best for you.
For example, if rodents or small mammals are entering your garden, an organic product like cayenne pepper may not work because it’s too effective to keep them out.
A great way to get rid of these pests without chemicals is by installing trapping devices around your home such as live traps, snap traps or glue boards so that when they come in contact with one, they will become stuck and unable.
