Tadpoles Gone

[David]

Hi

We have had a small widllife pond for about 5 years and have had some years
where we got tadpoles and frogs - from forgs that migrated in.

This year, we got the frog spawn and subsequently a fair number of tadpoles.

But within a couple fo weeks of the tadpoles htching, they have all
disappeared.

The usual pond skaters are around. The water is clear and looks good.
However, we do have at least two adult newts that we have seen on many
occasions.
We do get a few dragonm flies and damsel flies and I understand their
offspring can be boracious eaters of tadpoles.

Can the newts and dragon fly offspring really take all the tadpoles in a
pond?
Do we need a tadpole "nursery" areas?
Or could the water be the problem?

I want to try to avoid it happening next year, so any ideas woudl be
appreciated!

Thanks

David

[David Sim]

I've seen newts in my wildlife pond sit and watch the frog/toad spawn
hatching & literally eat every one of then - I guess they're in some kind of
feeding frenzy as they don't seem one bit worried about me being really
close

Post by David
Hi
We have had a small widllife pond for about 5 years and have had some years
where we got tadpoles and frogs - from forgs that migrated in.
This year, we got the frog spawn and subsequently a fair number of tadpoles.
But within a couple fo weeks of the tadpoles htching, they have all
disappeared.
The usual pond skaters are around. The water is clear and looks good.
However, we do have at least two adult newts that we have seen on many
occasions.
We do get a few dragonm flies and damsel flies and I understand their
offspring can be boracious eaters of tadpoles.
Can the newts and dragon fly offspring really take all the tadpoles in a
pond?
Do we need a tadpole "nursery" areas?
Or could the water be the problem?
I want to try to avoid it happening next year, so any ideas woudl be
appreciated!
Thanks
David