As every green thumb knows, winter is a time for garden maintenance. This winter, the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife is encouraging gardeners to build frog ponds in their own backyards to protect our precious native wildlife. Frogs are a delight to have in your garden, eating insects and spiders, and there are a few simple things that gardeners can do to invite them into their backyards.

Australia’s new Backyard Buddies program is all about getting more enjoyment from native animals in your backyard.

It can provide tips and advice on how to make your backyard a safe place for frogs to croak. Australia’s backyards are home to a number of different native frogs.

“You’ll be able to tell which type of frog you have just by the sound it makes,” says Ms Leonie Gale, CEO of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife which runs the Backyard Buddies program. “The Common Eastern Froglet is found along the East Coast of Australia and makes a continual ‘crick … crick …crick’ sound similar to castanets.

“Spotted Marsh Frogs – again, found throughout NSW and Victoria - have different accents, depending on where they are from. In the north of NSW, their call sounds like a machine gun, while in Victoria it’s just a single sharp click. “And if you hear mysterious chuckles on a warm night, then you’ve probably got Peron’s Tree Frogs in your backyard.”

Having frogs in your backyard is a sign of a healthy environment. “These are sensitive little creatures that are vulnerable to both predators and pollution.

“Their natural camouflage may work to avoid natural predators, but our pets, particularly cats, are not fooled so easily.

So it’s a good idea to keep cats inside when you know there are frogs around.

As it gets cooler, your frogs will also love a pile of rocks with leaf litter and logs to hide during winter,” Ms Gale explains.

“Frogs have the amazing ability to absorb air and water through their skin. They can only live in clean water and everyday household chemicals, like cleaning products and pesticides can kill them."

So what can you do to be a Backyard Buddy to frogs? Some tips

• Plant shrubs and trees and place rocks around ponds

• Keep your ponds free of exotic fish - goldfish, gambusia and other exotic fish are known to eat frog eggs and attack tadpoles

• Leave leaf litter and rocks in gardens – they provide shelter for frogs

• Place rocks or branches in water so that young frogs can get out easily

• Keep your cat or dog away from known frog areas

• Hang a sack or thick rope at the edge of your swimming pool so frogs can climb back out if they fall in

• Avoid using pesticides or chemicals in your garden that could run into water used by frogs

• Don’t take tadpoles from local creeks – it’s illegal.

To make your backyard frog friendly, provide a self-watering planting pot or a little pond, and sooner or later the frogs will find you. Consider building your own frog pond in a semi-shaded, secluded area of your own garden.

The Backyard Buddies website includes all the information you need to design a native fish and frog pond in a few simple steps. See www.backyardbuddies.net.au

About Backyard Buddies

The Backyard Buddies program is an initiative of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, an independent not-for-profit organisation which fosters the protection of Australia’s animals, plants and cultural heritage. For more information about Backyard Buddies visit www.backyardbuddies.net.au or visit the Foundation’s website www.fnpw.org.au