5 Steps To Get Rid Of Frogs & Toads

There might be frog lovers out there. However, frogs are not always great creatures. Especially, not in my backyard. You would think I would have become used to the loud croaking, but it got worse every day. These creatures croaked so loudly outside my bedroom that my window started vibrating. Night after night. There were many days when I had trouble focusing at work because I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep. If you are like me, you want advice that will work, once and for all. Here are 5 steps to getting rid of the noisy, croaking frogs in your yard and keeping them away.

5 Steps for Getting Rid of Frogs

1. Make the Environment Less Inviting (remove their habitat, introduce predators, or use other repellants)

Here are a few techniques I tried but didn’t work very well:

– Rubber snakes in my pool to scare them away
– Snake repellent
– Getting a cat or a dog
– Pesticides and chlorine

The frogs kept coming back. Strangely, they even became immune to chlorine after a while.

What worked for me was removing their habitat. Frogs are amphibians, which means they live on both dry land and water.

If your yard has a water feature (a pond or pool), then that is what attracts the frogs. Drain the pond or pool and leave it empty for a couple of weeks.
Trim weeds or other nearby plantings.
Do not leave out water for birds or other animals.
These things will make your yard less attractive to frogs. Eventually, they will just go away and find another place to live.

2. Get Rid of Their Food (starve them out)

Frogs need food to live. In addition to the water source and plantings, your yard must offer something that is sustaining them. Getting rid of their food supply will send the frogs hopping away to find a better place to live.

Turn off outside lights at night. Lights attract bugs, and bugs attract frogs.
Use mild insecticides to get rid of other bugs they may be eating.
Some frogs will eat pet food, so if you leave your pet’s dish outside, bring it in.

3. Create a Barrier

Some frogs can hop very high, but American Bullfrogs can only hop about a foot or two. Keep new frogs from coming into your yard with a barrier they cannot get through or over.

Set up plastic or mesh fencing around your yard.
Make sure the holes are small so frogs cannot squeeze through.
Secure the posts holding up the fencing so they won’t tip over.

4. Use Physical Force

Now it’s time to physically remove the frogs that might still be in the yard. Since you removed their habitat and food and installing fencing, the frogs you capture and get rid of won’t want to come back.

Scoop them up and out. Using a long-handled net with small-holed mesh, scoop the frogs out of your pool or pond and place them into a tall container, like a garbage can or lightweight barrel. This is really a two-person job. Have a lid handy. One person scoops the frogs into the container while the other quickly opens and closes the lid.

Try going out on a frog hunt at night, when frogs are most active. If you bring a flashlight and shine it in their eyes, they will be stunned like a deer in headlights. This will make them easier to catch. Also, it may be useful to know that frogs cannot turn their heads to see behind them.

If you have or live near kids, consider paying them to come over in the evenings to catch frogs for you. Pay them per frog. This will make the work go faster and easier! Once you have them all collected into a closed container, you can drive them to a pond or lake and release them.

5. Prevent the Frogs From Reproducing

You will want to make sure to eliminate future generations of frogs, too.

Gather tadpoles. Use your net to gather any tadpoles from the bottom of your pool or pond. If you leave them out on the dry ground, they will die as they dry out.

Scoop out the eggs. Make sure to scoop out any egg masses, too. The eggs will be clumped together in a jelly-like blob. These can be left out to dry and die, as well.

5 Steps To Get Rid Of Frogs Toads

Leave a Comment