If you had a large garden or lawn, there’s a high chance you’ll see amphibians roaming around. This may not be a problem at first, but once they start to reproduce exponentially, they become pests. That’s why we want to teach you how to get rid of tree frogs and toads in your garden. Not only will it prevent getting completely invaded by these amphibians, but it will also avoid damage to pets and native animals or plants in your garden.
Getting rid of these amphibians is not easy, though. To make it easier, we decided to explain the whole process as briefly as possible, so you could follow it thoroughly. Below, you’ll find everything about removing these animals from home – take a look!
5 Ways to Get Rid of Tree Frogs and Toads
Now that you’re aware of why these amphibians may love your garden, let’s get into the nitty-gritty. Below, you’ll find a brief guide on how to remove amphibians from your yard. Whether you’re infested or want to prevent the infestation in the first place – here’s what you can do:
#1. Change the Environment
The safest, easiest, and most effective way to get rid of toads and frogs is to change the entire environment of your yard and trees.
As we described above, yards provide food, shelter, and humidity. And trees keep them away from dangers. If you want to prevent amphibians from taking over the yard – then you need to make it less inviting for them.
Here are a few things you can try:
- Prevent damp places. From pots to containers, ponds, birdbaths, and even leaking hoses – they all produce humidity and invite frogs and toads in. Try removing any water source they may be using.
- Avoid hanging areas. These amphibians love hiding under stuff. This includes wooden planks, piles of rubbish, large furniture, tubs, containers, dog houses, sand/dirt piles, rocks, and similar stuff.
- Keep the yard clean. Just like objects in your yard, things like leaves, tall grass, weeds, and other natural things that create shade spots are inviting to amphibians. Get rid of them if possible.
- Spray ground coffee, saltwater, or vinegar in the trees. If you don’t want to remove the trees or rebuild your yard, you can always make them unattractive to amphibians by using coffee, vinegar, or saltwater in these areas. Frogs hate all these ingredients.
- Use animal distractions. Amphibians are not the smartest of animals, so they’re easily scared by other animals. This includes dogs, cats, birds, mice, and other pets. You can even use fake snakes to keep them off the trees and yard. Amphibians are terrified of snakes.
By changing the environment like this, the frogs and toads are more likely to not invade. But even then, it doesn’t work all the time. So consider the below methods as well.
Also Read: 5 Ways to Keep Cats Out of Your Yard
#2. Reduce the Food Sources
Even if the environment is hell on earth for amphibians, but there are enough insects for them to feast, then they may never leave.
Luckily, there are ways to also reduce food sources safely and almost naturally and get rid of tree frogs and toads. Follow these steps/tips for that:
- Get rid of the lights. One of the main things that attract insects to gardens is lights coming from bulbs, candles, torches, or even fires themselves. Anything that lights up at night, that’s something you may need to remove or prevent.
- Use insecticides or pesticides. They help get rid of unwanted plagues on trees, weeds, and food sources for the amphibians. This will kill the bugs over time, making the frog look for food somewhere else apart from your garden trees.
- Don’t leave pet food out. If you can keep all your pet food inside or at long reach from frogs and toads, then that’s ideal. These amphibians may look for this pet food if necessary.
With fewer options to feed on, they will likely decide to go away. But this can take anywhere from weeks to months. Luckily, there’s a lot more you can still do to accelerate the process.
Read More: How to Get Rid of Ants in Garden without Killing Plants
#3. Block the Area
Keeping the toads and frogs off the yard in the first place can also be an excellent idea. And for that, nothing works as well as a garden fence.
You will need to make this fence impenetrable, though. Remember that frogs can jump very high. And toads can dig through shallow stuff to get to the other side if necessary.
Here are a few tips to consider:
- Make the fence deep. At least 10 inches deep will prevent toads and frogs from digging through.
- Block holes and entrances. Close any possible opening the amphibians use to get into the garden or climb on trees. Use mesh, wood, plastic, or even metal if necessary.
- Increase in height. Whether it is a tree, a fence, or something else, try to make it as tall as possible. Frogs can jump over if necessary. If they see a big wall or tree, they may not want to jump over.
A blockage will only take you so far, especially if the animals are already in your yard. Luckily, you can still try out other methods (or combine them).
#4. Take Them Out by Hand
One of the most effective but more laborious ways to get rid of these amphibians is to remove them manually.
Yes, it sounds like tons of work (and it is). But it will ensure way better results than any other method in the list.
Follow these recommendations when taking the frogs and toads out of your garden:
- Set traps. The same traps used with birds with a few modifications can also be used for frogs and toads. Then you can place them in a humid container.
- Look for them and hand them out. Simple but effective, you can always use a scoop, some gloves, and a few hours of your time to look for the amphibians one by one to take them out. Again, place them in a container if possible.
- Pay people to remove them. It’s possible someone will want to take the toads and frogs out of your yard if you pay them. This includes people who have amphibians as pets as well as children who like to play with them.
- Try to remove the amphibians by night. No matter how you want to get them out by hand, you should always do so at night when the animals are more active.
- They go to sleep with cold. Put the animals in the refrigerator and they will hibernate. Then take them out while still cold and take them somewhere else. Don’t kill them. It’s unnecessary.
Once you have taken the animals out of your property, you will reduce the chance of massive reproduction exponentially. But even then, there’s still a chance some amphibians are left behind.
#5. Prevent Reproduction
If you want to keep the animals out of your home in the long run, nothing will work like preventing their reproduction in the first place.
Changing the environment, as we explained before, is a perfect way to do this. But there are other useful tips you can follow:
- Take tadpoles away. If you have a pond or something similar, the amphibians may have used it to hatch their babies. In that case, you can always remove the tadpoles safely and take them somewhere else.
- Get rid of eggs. If you don’t see tadpoles yet, but a blob of small shiny balls. Then that means the amphibians are hatching their eggs. These eggs will be a lot easier to remove. Be sure to take them somewhere safe where they can hatch.
By doing this, you will reduce the time of future generations of amphibians grow up in the garden. Along with the other methods, it will prevent reproduction massively.
Why are Frogs and Toads in Your Yard?
Before we get into the guide at once, let’s explain why you see these amphibians in your garden. There are various reasons, but here are the 3 most important ones:
1. Food
Gardens and patios provide plants (with flowers, seeds, etc.), lights, shelter, and humidity. All of that attracts flies, mosquitoes, and many other insects. Toads and frogs love eating these insects, so they get into your garden to eat.
At the same time, you may have pets like cats, dogs, chickens, or bunnies. Either way, toads also like pet food – so they may be in your garden after that.
2. Safety
Most amphibians are timid. They spend most of the time in the shade below soil or under shelters. And most gardens and lawns offer this type of safety for them to shelter away. If you have an overgrown garden, then that’s more likely to bring frogs and toads by the numbers.
3. Humidity
Lastly, amphibians depend on humidity for their life. And sure enough, gardens and lawns hold a lot of that humidity for them to thrive.
In case you have a pond or humid area in your garden (due to leakage, drains, etc.), then that’s probably a reason why you see toads and frogs around.
You May Also Read: 6 Ways To Get Rid of Snakes in Your Garden
Bottom Line
So, did you learn how to get rid of tree frogs and toads with our small guide? We hope so.
Removing those little shiny yet slightly annoying animals can be a tough job. But if you follow our methods, it will be a lot easier.
Use our advice in this article and start getting rid of toads and frogs today!