Tadpoles

jcoote

Hi Guys,

My dad is looking for tadpoles to add to his new wildlife garden.

Just wondering does anyone know where we could get some or indeed if you have frogs yourself and would like to sell some of your tadpoles that'd be great too.

We are in the Dublin area so anywhere local enough would be great.

Cheers

kylith

I'm not sure, but I think that since frogs are a protected species you're not allowed to move or tamper with their eggs or tadpoles without a licence.

I'm sure that the local frogs will find your dad's pond if there are any around.

paddy147

kylith wrote: »

I'm not sure, but I think that since frogs are a protected species you're not allowed to move or tamper with their eggs or tadpoles without a licence.

I'm sure that the local frogs will find your dad's pond if there are any around.

+1.:)

magicbastarder

far be it from me to suggest breaking the law, but a couple of handfuls of frogspawn being moved to a (suitable!) habitat will not have the gardai knocking on your door.

abbeyrock

We used to collect them as kids up around the dublin mountains, they are usually in puddles or small pools off the paths.

paddy147

magicbastarder wrote: »

far be it from me to suggest breaking the law, but a couple of handfuls of frogspawn being moved to a (suitable!) habitat will not have the gardai knocking on your door.

Possibly/Probably Not.....But you would be taking from another eco system and pond habitat though....so I dont know if thats a great idea??


Or you could be saving the spawn from being wiped out/eaten by other creatures aswell,and giving them a chance at living and growing into frogs??

Double edged sword I suppose.

who the fug

Why did they have to be protected, what was wiping them out ?

jcoote

thanks for the input guys i'll pass the knowledge on

Gloomtastic!

It is illegal to lift tadpoles but if I was looking for tadpoles in Dublin I'd head over to Bull island by the wooden bridge. The place is sodden at the moment and in a few weeks every puddle will be full of frogs spawn. Puddles that will dry out long before any tadpoles have had a chance to mature. Shame to see them go to waste.

Janey_Mac

As a child I imported tadpoles into our garden pond by the simple and illegal method of taking some frogspawn from our neighbour's pond. Decades later, there are two ponds each filled with tadpoles every spring.

muckyhands

They are protected and on the Red Data List.

@ who the fug- From what I know they were assessed as internationally important- I think this was due to serious disease related issues causing mass mortality, namely Ranavirus and Chytrid fungal disease in the Uk and other places.

Habitat loss is another reason for them being protected, especially pond loss.

Garden ponds I presume are very important/ welcome to ensure theres a place for them.

Having said that, does anyone know if there are any cases of Ranavirus or Chytrid fungal disease in Ireland? In which case moving them from one place to another could cause problems......

johnayo

Lets be careful or we may meet the tadpole police:)

paddy147

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

It is illegal to lift tadpoles but if I was looking for tadpoles in Dublin I'd head over to Bull island by the wooden bridge. The place is sodden at the moment and in a few weeks every puddle will be full of frogs spawn. Puddles that will dry out long before any tadpoles have had a chance to mature. Shame to see them go to waste.

Protected lands and all plants and creatures there are protected by the law/state.

Cannot remove anything from that area as its UNESCO Reserve and a Protected nature conservation area.


http://www.dublincity.ie/RECREATIONANDCULTURE/DUBLINCITYPARKS/VISITAPARK/Pages/NorthBullIsland.aspx





In 1821, the 1 kilometre-long North Bull Wall was constructed and gradually sand accumulated behind the wall leading to the formation of Bull Island which means that it is younger than City Hall. In the 1880's the Royal Dublin Golf Club developed a golf links and in 1927 St. Anne's Golf Course was developed. In 1955, Dublin Corporation acquired the entire island from the Royal Dublin Golf Club apart from the club itself. Following the construction of the Causeway Road in 1962/1964 to increase access to the Island, the Corporation granted St. Anne's Golf Club a lease sufficient to increase this course from 9 to 18 holes.

The island, which reached its current length around 1902, is now 5 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide at its widest point and is a site of both national and international scientific interest. It was declared a Bird Sanctuary in the 1930's, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981, a Nature Reserve in 1988 and a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. It also qualifies for designation as a Nature Heritage Area: , Special Protection Area: and Special area of Conservation and was declared a Special Amenity Area: in 1994.

As part of the making of the Special Amenity Area, Dublin City Council published a management plan in 1995, with conservation objectives, for North Bull Island. This plan was updated by the Council in 2001, and is available to download here.

The specific areas of ornithological and botanical interest include the sand dune system, the spit head and hook, the aldermash, the mudflats and saltmarsh. The Island is home at various times to 8,000 wild fowl and 26,000 waders with up to 180 different bird species being recorded. Over 300 species of plants also have been recorded including some rare and officially protected species. In addition to its ecological uniqueness the Island with its much loved Dollymount Beach is a marvellous recreational resource valued by generations of Dubliners. A Visitor and Interpretive Centre was built in 1986

muckyhands

johnayo wrote: »

Lets be careful or we may meet the tadpole police:)

:pac: :pac: Im not that bad, all Im saying is there are problems that others have had and it would be very foolish not to take note of and be aware of them, thats all.

Forewarned is forearmed, is that the saying?

lucylu

this topic was on Mooney goes Wild last Friday.
Teachers have a " collective licence" to move Tadpoles for educational purposes.

kylith

who the fug wrote: »

Why did they have to be protected, what was wiping them out ?

Disease mostly. I'd be quite worried about predation by pets if they were moved to any kind of urban or suburban pond, and I'm really not sure of the wisdom of moving them from their own habitat to an artificial one, especially in a garden where they pond may well have fertiliser or other chemicals in it from the garden around it.

I'd say that if the pond is in an area suitable for frogs then frogs and other pond dwellers will find it.

muckyhands

lucylu wrote: »

this topic was on Mooney goes Wild last Friday.
Teachers have a " collective licence" to move Tadpoles for educational purposes.

Thats right, the licence is granted to the Department of education/ their nominees aka teachers to collect frog spawn (only frog spawn, not frogs) -so children can watch and learn about their lifecycle in schools.

They have to be returned to where they came from afterwards.

The licence doesnt give you the right to enter onto any lands though in order to collect frog spawn.

cruizer101

We've frogs in the pond in our back garden and have to say they thrive out there. Originally got the frogspawn from a neighbour who had frogs and I think he was the same.

The only problem we have had is recently a heron has started feeding on them, we've covered the pond with netting and its stopped hopefully it'll move on and forget about them so we can remove the netting in the future.

Personally I don't see the problem in taking some from a local pond surely its only going to help increase the population once you only take small bit.

How big is the pond you plan putingt them in?

Also I would say, and this is just based on my own thinking not any facts, if its a new pond you might be best to leave it a year or two before doing it and allow the pond to mature and build up algae and other small animals that would be able to feed the tadpoles and frogs.

muckyhands

kylith wrote: »

I'd say that if the pond is in an area suitable for frogs then frogs and other pond dwellers will find it.

Very true.

I have frogs in my garden/ pond for years and I asked one of the wildlife groups at Bloom one year whats the chances of having newts move in to it too.

He said frogs out compete newts so you may not get them in the same ponds so I guess if you let nature take its course itll do whatever its meant to do.