RAISING TADPOLES

Now I know why I heard the tree frogs melodic trill every day by the barbecue. The pool was right off the deck and filled with rainwater, fallen  leaves and algae-an ideal place for them to lay their eggs. 

Before dismantling the pool, my son, Richard, netted up as many tadpoles as he could find. He placed them in a bucket with some of the pool water. We later drove to a nearby creek to release them but on the way decided to keep a few to raise at home. After releasing most of them into the swampy creek area with our blessing, we purchased a small starter tank with a lid. We then transferred the tadpoles and added some bottled spring water to the tank.

With a little online research, I found that a few people had success with feeding them lettuce. So, giving them part shade/part sun, they are thriving on romaine lettuce. I’ve added an algae disc that attaches to the tank to see if they eat it and tomorrow, I’ll add some gravel to the tank. When they grow legs, they’ll need a place to climb out of the water and maybe a larger container. After they grow legs and loose their tales, I can release them into the back woods to sing to me their sweet night song.

Thank you Richard for helping me to experience this exciting process and for supporting my childish nature. I’ll change lenses and try to get better photos and keep you posted on their development.