Sixteen different species of frogs live within the wider Perth metropolitan area and with so much habitat destruction, safe homes for these animals are becoming harder to find. With a little planning, you can create a haven for these amphibians to ensure they have somewhere to eat, rest and breed.

Know Your Frogs
Western Australia is home to 77 species of frogs. The Motorbike Frog (Litoria moorei) is one of the most prevalent in suburban gardens and lays its eggs in nearly any type of standing water. They can be easily distinguished by their call which sounds like a motorbike changing gears. Other common species include the Slender Tree Frog (Litoria adelaidensis), Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dorsalis), Moaning Frog (Heleioporus eyrei) and Squelching Froglet (Crinia insignifera). It is important to know which frogs may be attracted to your area as they have specific requirements in terms of shelter and breeding.

A Sheltered Life
Many frogs require a moist environment to live so maintaining soil moisture and having cool, damp places in your garden is very important. Letting leaf litter accumulate is an easy way of keeping the moisture in your soil. Damp soil is also easier for frogs like the Banjo Frog or Moaning Frog to bury themselves in. By placing logs, rocks or ceramic piping, or making damp and cool covered areas, you can provide frogs with a place to keep cool in summer.

Buying Local
It is best to use local native plants in your garden and frog pond. Local native plants are better suited to surviving in your area and require less water. By using these plants, you are also going a step further to replicating the frog’s natural habitat. Some good plants for frogs include reeds, sedges, dense shrubs and ground covers.

Frog Food
Frogs eat a variety of invertebrates and help control insect populations. Provided the frog is bigger than its intended meal, it will eat just about anything that moves. To attract insects to your garden, plant a variety of plants with different growth and flowering periods and avoid the use of chemicals in your garden. To attract flying insects like moths, install a solar garden light near frog sheltering areas.

Pondering a Pond?
When it comes to installing a frog pond, you need to consider a number of things:

• What will it be made of?
• Where to place it?
• Will it have a pump? (Be cautious of a frog pond with large pumps as they will destroy the eggs.)
• Which frogs do I want to breed?
• What shall I plant?

These are just a few questions you should ask when planning your frog pond. You should also consider whether you can make a commitment to it as some frogs may continue to use your pond to breed in year after year and this could be over a ten year period. Some frogs won’t necessarily use the pond but may utilise the whole garden. It is also important to provide frogs with a way to get out of the pond, otherwise they may drown. There are a number of good books available on building a frog pond. Building Frog Friendly Gardens, produced by the Western Australian Museum, is easy to use, setting out simple steps for building your own frog pond.

A Word on Chytrid Fungus
Chytrid fungus is found in 52% of Australian frog species and has led to the deaths of many frogs and the extinction of at least two species in Australia. Sadly, Perth is not immune. It is now found in all major lakes and throughout the suburbs. It is nearly impossible to keep Chytrid fungus out of your garden, however, it is unlikely that all the frogs in your garden will die. If you do find a dead frog in your garden and suspect Chytrid fungus as the cause, it can be frozen and taken to the Western Australian Museum for testing. The information gained will contribute to our understanding of the frog fungus disease and its impact on local frogs.

 Frog-friendly Garden Information sheet

 10 steps to creating a frog-friendly garden

Come and see our frog-friendly garden located at the Zoo's Homstead Barn.