CAts will indeed kill frogs because they’ll kill anything small that moves. They’ll just do it for fun, however, and it would be an opportunistic kill. They wouldn’t be so determined as to pull up mesh. It’s likely to be the work of crows or magpies and the paw prints are just a coincidence. The cats have probably just came along to have a look in the pond. The thing about frogs is that very few of them make it because they have so many predators. I have tadpoles and frogs atm, and I own two cats who aren’t really interested in the frogs but they do like to watch them. I hope you solve the mystery.
My cats definitely eat frogs in our little frog and toad habitat areas we've set up - old bowls with water and stones under the water spigot, in a shade spot tucked under the mint. I'll try making sure cats are in nights and see if this helps. Seems they do bring them in at night time.
I have a little solar fountain and the rather erratic spurting of the water seems to keep my 2 cats away from my tiny pond. Wouldn't work at night though!
I’ve been using the RSPB anti cat sonic device and it seems to be working. Only one pile of poo all summer. The winter will be true test, with more bare earth and less human activity in the garden. But, so far, so clean.
Frogs don't live in the pond all year, just at breeding time and then they disappear into cool, damp corners and long grass where they are safe and can find food and shelter till they need to hibernate. Young frogs migrate away from ponds fairly soon too so they're all as likely to have moved on as to have been taken by cats.
Have a google for a water scarecrow device which will deter cats, foxes, herons and even badgers as long as you regularly move the trigger sensors so they don't learn to avoid them. Don't use it in a front garden tho. The posty will not be amused.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
My frogs seem to being hanging out in the pond all the time, just to cool off, perhaps. I wasn't expecting to see them, but I water the garden in the afternoon, and there they are meditating on the world.
Our babies lurk in the pot collections - cool, shaded and regular watering. No idea where the adults are tho I did recently come across a big fat toad in the shadiest corner of the polytunnel.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
100% there is a cat or fox killing my frogs. I've kept those guys going for years whilst I landscaped and installed a pond, I even rescued one from a skip. This summer I've realised that something is sniffing them out at night, dragging them onto the lawn and then killing them. I buried one only to find it had been dug up the next day and dumped on the lawn. I personally find cats a massive detriment to wildlife, horrible creatures with lazy owners. They do most of their damage at night. I find the advice on here about cats and foxes never attacking frogs Infuriating. The evidence is undeniable as I stand over two dead frogs covered In flies that have blatantly been killed for fun. If it was a fox, the frog would have been eaten surely? I'm convinced it's cats.
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Don’t blame the cats! 😂lol
Have a google for a water scarecrow device which will deter cats, foxes, herons and even badgers as long as you regularly move the trigger sensors so they don't learn to avoid them. Don't use it in a front garden tho. The posty will not be amused.
Cats will probably chase live frogs if they see them hopping about but then find their skin secretions unpalatable.