CSU experts offer hot tips to Riverina residents hit by swimming pool frog invasion

With reports that residents are scooping frogs out of their pools, by the bucketload in parts of the region, Charles Sturt University ecologist Dr Anna Turner shed some light on why it's happening and how to fix the problem.

"The swimming pools are acting as a trap," Dr Turner said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"They are little ground frogs and are not that good at climbing, which is why they are getting stuck in the swimming pools."

Dr Turner suggested giving the frogs a platform like a plank of wood to help them hop out of the pool.

"You might find that the frogs are converging on one particular side of the pool because they are travelling in a particular direction," she said.

"So if people put that plank where the most frogs are, they might be able to climb out."

Dr Turner said prevention was also a good strategy.

"If people have pool fencing, they can add an extension to the bottom, such as a garden edging or gutter guard about a foot-high that can easily be cable-tied to the bottom of the fence to reduce frog numbers," she said.

Dr Turner works in wetlands across the Murrumbidgee region and has definitely experienced an increase in frog numbers.

Working at Deniliquin this week, she said frogs are hopping "everywhere."

Dr Turner said two of the main species proliferating at present were the spotted marsh frog and the [giant] banjo frog.

CSU lecturer in environmental management Dr Alexandra Knight said the recent wet years have set the scene for the explosion in frog numbers.

Dr Knight said there was already a large population that multiplied even further with the flooding of 2022.

"Now that the floodwaters are receding, they are looking for new opportunities and homes as they disperse across the landscape," she said.

Frog numbers are expected to die down again amid the onset of winter.

"Once the weather cools down, they will become inactive and hide during the winter," Dr Knight said.

"As we go back into a dry [climate] cycle, their numbers will decrease as well.

"So it's a short-term concern."

Describing the boom as close to a "once in a lifetime" experience, Dr Knight encouraged people to appreciate the novelty of the frog explosion while it lasts.

"There are definitely reports back into the 1930s right up into central NSW of really large numbers of frogs moving across the landscape," she said.

"So the fact we haven't seen them is a bit of a worry."

Dr Knight also encouraged people to look on the bright side.

"Frogs are really excellent insect controllers," she said.

"With more of them around, they are also controlling insects, including flies and other biting insects [and mosquitoes].

"Some tadpoles even eat mosquito larvae."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: