RAUK - Archived Forum - Should I Break The Ice on My Pond?

The lady I bought my house from said that in winter she always kept on top of breaking the ice on her pond so that the froggies underneath were OK, do you actually need to do that? Cos surely itÆs natural for ponds to get iced over, surely frogs are made so they donÆt die when that happens? I went out and hammered away at 7am this morning (in the process causing attention from neighbours who must have thought I was smashing car windows ), do I really need to break the ice though? ItÆs not something I want to do all the time when itÆs icy. ItÆll be iced over again now anyway.

[QUOTE=Dave1812] I would say that your initial thoughts were correct - the frogs have and will survive; they go into a shut down state at the bottom of the pond or hibernate under lief litter, they also have a built in anti-freeze in their body. One good thing about the ice breaking is at least the birds can still get a drink (until if freezes again) I have several bird baths at home and frequently melt the ice.

I'm sure one of our more knowledgeable members could explain it better than I have - hope that helps
[/QUOTE]

It helps. Good, I donÆt have to go to bed and worry about them drowning during the night then.

[QUOTE=Caleb]Yes, frogs will be fine under the ice.

It's possible for oxygen levels in the water to go down if a pond's frozen for a very long time, though this is more of a problem for fish than it is for frogs.

The usual way of avoiding this is to float a squashy ball in the water when a cold snap's expected, and just pull it out after the pond's frozen, leaving a small hole so air can get to the water.

I guess this would help birds drink too... [/QUOTE]

IÆll just give it a hammering once if thereÆs several consecutive days of frost. IÆm glad that I donÆt have to look like a complete nut each morning and night nipping round in the dark to the front garden armed with a hammer and get bashing loudly, they probably think IÆm nuts enough by picking grass all the time (itÆs for my house rabbit but they donÆt know that ). I havenÆt ever seen a bird in my pond so theyÆre not a worry and thereÆs other bird enthusiasts around, itÆs a bit of a bird haven by my house as IÆm right by a lake and woodland and all the neighbours seem to have bird feeders and bird baths, IÆm sure the birds will find water somewhere.

Thanks Dave & Caleb.

IÆm defo gonna take note of the leaving a football in your pond trick, the ice has got well thick, itÆd take some serious hammering now.

IÆm nervous about this year. Now that IÆve moved out of Meanie MummyÆs home and have to do grown-up things IÆll have less time to love Henry this year. If I get home from work, have only a tiny tea, then rush out to life-save frogs and donÆt get back ætil after 10pm IÆm gonna be well tired for work the next morning if I still spend an hour and a half with my bunny. Think Henry is gonna have to miss out on me a bit this year and every other year from now on, either that or I donÆt go out to save frogs, dunno if I could live with the guilt knowing that lots died because I couldnÆt be arsed to make the effort though.

It would be good if I could arrange with the frogs and toads when to cross the roads and when would be convenient for me to come and assist. But most years IÆm out frogging for about 2 or 3 weeks on and off with breaks between days because of the weather. I like the nights when theyÆre all out but I still make time for the toads and frogs that want to go for walks on cold nights even if I only pick up 10 or so. Out of 10 nearly half could be squashed and I want to save them all so IÆll be there for them even on quiet nights. I sure do wish there were other enthusiastic youngsters in my æFriends of the FrogsÆ group who could muck in and we could take it in turns to go out. Nobody wants to join my Friends of the Frogs group. Not even the Bradford Councellor who set it up. Not even Meanie Mummy will come out with me. All I get is the occasional oddball tagging along harassing me. I want some frog loving local friends. No one likes frogs enough to go out on nights to get their hands mucky. Only me. Maybe IÆll try and get some time off work then I could go frogging at night and give Henry lots of attention during the day. Hope the boss is up for it, I canÆt pre-book it, I dunno when theyÆre gonna want to bonk.

PS. Your avator still frightens me Vicar.

Would that cold spell on Saturday night/Sunday morning of killed my spawn?! It iced over all of my spawn, are my little unborn baby tadpoles dead now?

Oh and I did consider putting an old washing up bowl over the spawn but thought it may do more harm than good and so let nature take itÆs course and did nothing, my Uncle Derek said it wouldnÆt be cold enough to freeze the pond over anyway (I ainÆt listening to him again ) .