Tips for attracting newts to outdoor frog ponds? (1 Viewer)

[Avon Avians]

Hello folks!
I'm sure that many of you wildlife enthusiasts out there have wildlife ponds.
I believe that a wildlife pond is basically a fishless pond that mostly balances itself out without much of any need for maintenance, at least once established.
Am I correct?
Anyway, we have an abundance of green frogs and bullfrogs in a nearby pond only about a mile or so away, and we get a lot of frogs hopping about in our town during heavy rains and wet seasons (we live in New Hampshire, New England). I doubt that it would be difficult to make our yard a hospitable home for them.
I had considered building a pond to attract these frogs. For whatever reason, attracting newts to the pond was not something that I considered to be possible.
Over time, I realized that attracting newts was probably not that much of an impossibility, since they have efts that travel overland on rainy nights.
Around here, we have only one species, the eastern or red-spotted newt. It's the only newt out of our many salamander species, and is our state amphibian.

From what I've heard, they prefer sunny, weedy ponds with shallow water. The efts seem to prefer damp woodlands with rotten wood and other moist or wet areas.
Is this what anyone else has experienced? I know that many of the other wildlife enthusiasts on this forum live outside of North America where eastern newts are absent but many species are present. I believe that these newt have similar habits to our species.

If any one has newts in their backyard pond or has had them in the past, then I would love to hear your suggestions or ideas about what attracts them.
Even observations of newt behavior in captivity may help.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks! God bless!

 

[Coggie]

Hey there, know this reply is late but I just joined the forum and happened to see your post. I'm actually just getting into birding, but I'm much more experienced with herptiles- particularly salamanders.

I'm from Michigan, and like you, the eastern is our only newt species. Like many of our salamanders, they tend to only be present in disconnected populations. No one is certain why that is, but I had a professor who theorized that it was due to the agricultural history of our area fragmenting populations, and I think that seems quite likely from my own field observations. So the first thing you might want to consider is whether or not you have preexisting populations nearby who would be able to find your pond. I live in a rural area with a lot of woodlots around, but there are few salamanders of any species for miles around, presumably because this whole area was farmland 60 years ago.

Regarding your question about sunny, weedy ponds with shallow water- yes, that's prime newt habitat. Even not-so-sunny or not-so-weedy ponds attract them, as long as there's enough algae to sustain the food chain. I think the key is just that the pond is shallow enough to lack fish that could predate upon them, and also that it's full of small invertebrates that the newts (and any larvae they might produce) can eat. I'm not sure if you're thinking of installing a plastic garden pond or digging your own and laying down a liner, but I think a plastic pond might have walls that are a bit steep for their liking. If you're able to dig out a really gently sloping bank (akin to a vernal pool you might find in the woods), they might like it better as it would be much easier for them to come and go.

It's also worth noting that a lot of our salamander species who only enter the water to breed in the spring have fidelity to their natal pool and return to it after hibernation year after year, but from what I gather, some individual eastern newts might be a bit likelier to migrate to new areas than individuals of other species. So I'd say, if you have newts nearby already, it's definitely worth a shot to build them a pool and see if they come! If worst comes to worst, as you said, you'll have plenty of frogs to watch.

 

[Avon Avians]

Hey there, know this reply is late but I just joined the forum and happened to see your post. I'm actually just getting into birding, but I'm much more experienced with herptiles- particularly salamanders.

I'm from Michigan, and like you, the eastern is our only newt species. Like many of our salamanders, they tend to only be present in disconnected populations. No one is certain why that is, but I had a professor who theorized that it was due to the agricultural history of our area fragmenting populations, and I think that seems quite likely from my own field observations. So the first thing you might want to consider is whether or not you have preexisting populations nearby who would be able to find your pond. I live in a rural area with a lot of woodlots around, but there are few salamanders of any species for miles around, presumably because this whole area was farmland 60 years ago.

Regarding your question about sunny, weedy ponds with shallow water- yes, that's prime newt habitat. Even not-so-sunny or not-so-weedy ponds attract them, as long as there's enough algae to sustain the food chain. I think the key is just that the pond is shallow enough to lack fish that could predate upon them, and also that it's full of small invertebrates that the newts (and any larvae they might produce) can eat. I'm not sure if you're thinking of installing a plastic garden pond or digging your own and laying down a liner, but I think a plastic pond might have walls that are a bit steep for their liking. If you're able to dig out a really gently sloping bank (akin to a vernal pool you might find in the woods), they might like it better as it would be much easier for them to come and go.

It's also worth noting that a lot of our salamander species who only enter the water to breed in the spring have fidelity to their natal pool and return to it after hibernation year after year, but from what I gather, some individual eastern newts might be a bit likelier to migrate to new areas than individuals of other species. So I'd say, if you have newts nearby already, it's definitely worth a shot to build them a pool and see if they come! If worst comes to worst, as you said, you'll have plenty of frogs to watch.

That's a real bummer to hear about the salamander populations!

Our yard certainly has frogs, but we've never seen a salamander in our entire town.
The frog species we've seen in our town were the following...
American bullfrog
Green frog
Gray tree frog
Spring peeper
American toad (Never actually in our yard)
Northern leopard frog(?) (Never actually in our yard)

We've even seen a painted turtle crossing the road near our yard, although it is not technically an amphibian but a reptile.

The turtle and the frogs would imply to me that there would be favorable habitat for newts nearby.
Newts are not only forest-dwelling species, they are also one of our most aquatic salamanders.
The adults do not seem to require nearby forests at all since they are almost entirely aquatic, but since their efts are forest-dwellers, I suspect that they would be absent from ponds in more open areas.

Here is a map of our town from Google. It measures the distance between our house and the nearest forest (and also the nearest water body). The forest that it points to has got to be a mature forest, and I doubt that it was ever farmland. It literally goes on for miles and miles.



It seems like quite a long way for an eft to travel, but we can get very rainy summers sometimes.

 

[Coggie]

Unfortunately, I suspect that if any efts and/or adults need to cross a river in order to find your pond, they might have a hard time making it to you. While adults are primarily aquatic and there are some species that can withstand some current in small streams, I can't think of any instances where I've heard of them crossing larger bodies of water like your river.

The professor I mentioned before actually speculated that, alongside agricultural history, being in the floodplain could impact salamander presence/absence (a point I often forget about because most of the places I go salamander hunting are not in floodplains). In your case, I could definitely see the river having a potential impact on their distribution.

Maybe you have favorable habitat off to the west on your side of the river and could hope that they might come from that direction? You're right that adult newts are primarily aquatic, but at least around here, adults tend to leave the water in the fall to hibernate under nearby logs. I found 15 salamanders under one 2-ft-long log one fall, about half of which were adult eastern newts! As long as there are cover objects near your pond, they may hang around all year. I lived in Europe when I was a kid and there were alpine newts in seemingly every water body smaller than a river, but even they left the water in the colder months. Shallow pools with woody debris around seemed to be prime habitat there as well as here.

Whether or not you get newts, frog ponds are fun, too! Out of the species you mentioned, it seems like green frogs tend to find new ponds first, but if you're lucky maybe you'll also get some of the ephemeral spring breeders like peepers, gray tree frogs, and toads. These species are likeliest to breed in vernal pools that eventually dry up, but I've definitely seen them breeding in permanent small water bodies as well. Like with the newts, being fairly shallow with easy entrance/exits seems to be the key.

 

[Avon Avians]

Unfortunately, I suspect that if any efts and/or adults need to cross a river in order to find your pond, they might have a hard time making it to you. While adults are primarily aquatic and there are some species that can withstand some current in small streams, I can't think of any instances where I've heard of them crossing larger bodies of water like your river.

The professor I mentioned before actually speculated that, alongside agricultural history, being in the floodplain could impact salamander presence/absence (a point I often forget about because most of the places I go salamander hunting are not in floodplains). In your case, I could definitely see the river having a potential impact on their distribution.

Maybe you have favorable habitat off to the west on your side of the river and could hope that they might come from that direction? You're right that adult newts are primarily aquatic, but at least around here, adults tend to leave the water in the fall to hibernate under nearby logs. I found 15 salamanders under one 2-ft-long log one fall, about half of which were adult eastern newts! As long as there are cover objects near your pond, they may hang around all year. I lived in Europe when I was a kid and there were alpine newts in seemingly every water body smaller than a river, but even they left the water in the colder months. Shallow pools with woody debris around seemed to be prime habitat there as well as here.

Whether or not you get newts, frog ponds are fun, too! Out of the species you mentioned, it seems like green frogs tend to find new ponds first, but if you're lucky maybe you'll also get some of the ephemeral spring breeders like peepers, gray tree frogs, and toads. These species are likeliest to breed in vernal pools that eventually dry up, but I've definitely seen them breeding in permanent small water bodies as well. Like with the newts, being fairly shallow with easy entrance/exits seems to be the key.

Unfortunately, I suspect that if any efts and/or adults need to cross a river in order to find your pond, they might have a hard time making it to you. While adults are primarily aquatic and there are some species that can withstand some current in small streams, I can't think of any instances where I've heard of them crossing larger bodies of water like your river.

The professor I mentioned before actually speculated that, alongside agricultural history, being in the floodplain could impact salamander presence/absence (a point I often forget about because most of the places I go salamander hunting are not in floodplains). In your case, I could definitely see the river having a potential impact on their distribution.

Maybe you have favorable habitat off to the west on your side of the river and could hope that they might come from that direction? You're right that adult newts are primarily aquatic, but at least around here, adults tend to leave the water in the fall to hibernate under nearby logs. I found 15 salamanders under one 2-ft-long log one fall, about half of which were adult eastern newts! As long as there are cover objects near your pond, they may hang around all year. I lived in Europe when I was a kid and there were alpine newts in seemingly every water body smaller than a river, but even they left the water in the colder months. Shallow pools with woody debris around seemed to be prime habitat there as well as here.

Whether or not you get newts, frog ponds are fun, too! Out of the species you mentioned, it seems like green frogs tend to find new ponds first, but if you're lucky maybe you'll also get some of the ephemeral spring breeders like peepers, gray tree frogs, and toads. These species are likeliest to breed in vernal pools that eventually dry up, but I've definitely seen them breeding in permanent small water bodies as well. Like with the newts, being fairly shallow with easy entrance/exits seems to be the key.

I don't know, the west side is mostly open land, but there are a few wooded areas and still water bodies about half a mile from our house.
Then again, I have no idea how many small vernal pools we have around our house. I would think that the presence of green frogs, bullfrogs, painted turtles, tree frogs, and spring peepers near our house would imply that there would be favorable habitat for eastern newts, as well.
I know that eastern newts can live in both ponds and vernal pools.

Would it be a bad idea to introduce newts to our pond, even if they originated just a mile away or so?

 

[Coggie]

If you can find them locally, I don't think relocating some to your pond would be a problem. You might need a fishing license to take them legally- I know that's the case here. I'm not sure if they'd stick around long term after being relocated but it seems worth a shot if you provide them good habitat. If you can get a good food supply going and can find some newt eggs, you might have even better luck because they would never know that they had been relocated so they might be less inclined to leave to try to find their original home.

The only thing I would caution against would be if you have to get them from outside your local area, especially if they're raised in captivity. Sometimes diseases pop up in captive populations that you wouldn't typically find in the wild. Same goes for taking some from a wild population that's far away (though where you draw the line of "far away" might be subjective)- you wouldn't want to risk introducing novel pathogens to your area.

 

[Avon Avians]

If you can find them locally, I don't think relocating some to your pond would be a problem. You might need a fishing license to take them legally- I know that's the case here. I'm not sure if they'd stick around long term after being relocated but it seems worth a shot if you provide them good habitat. If you can get a good food supply going and can find some newt eggs, you might have even better luck because they would never know that they had been relocated so they might be less inclined to leave to try to find their original home.

The only thing I would caution against would be if you have to get them from outside your local area, especially if they're raised in captivity. Sometimes diseases pop up in captive populations that you wouldn't typically find in the wild. Same goes for taking some from a wild population that's far away (though where you draw the line of "far away" might be subjective)- you wouldn't want to risk introducing novel pathogens to your area.

It's illegal to release newts originating outside of the state into the wild, including eastern newts, so I would have to find the newts locally anyways.
I would probably only search for newts 1 mile away or so. There are certainly ideal newt habitats within that distance from our house.

 

[Jhanlon]

It's illegal to release newts originating outside of the state into the wild, including eastern newts, so I would have to find the newts locally anyways.
I would probably only search for newts 1 mile away or so. There are certainly ideal newt habitats within that distance from our house.

Hello folks!
I'm sure that many of you wildlife enthusiasts out there have wildlife ponds.
I believe that a wildlife pond is basically a fishless pond that mostly balances itself out without much of any need for maintenance, at least once established.
Am I correct?
Anyway, we have an abundance of green frogs and bullfrogs in a nearby pond only about a mile or so away, and we get a lot of frogs hopping about in our town during heavy rains and wet seasons (we live in New Hampshire, New England). I doubt that it would be difficult to make our yard a hospitable home for them.
I had considered building a pond to attract these frogs. For whatever reason, attracting newts to the pond was not something that I considered to be possible.
Over time, I realized that attracting newts was probably not that much of an impossibility, since they have efts that travel overland on rainy nights.
Around here, we have only one species, the eastern or red-spotted newt. It's the only newt out of our many salamander species, and is our state amphibian.

From what I've heard, they prefer sunny, weedy ponds with shallow water. The efts seem to prefer damp woodlands with rotten wood and other moist or wet areas.
Is this what anyone else has experienced? I know that many of the other wildlife enthusiasts on this forum live outside of North America where eastern newts are absent but many species are present. I believe that these newt have similar habits to our species.

If any one has newts in their backyard pond or has had them in the past, then I would love to hear your suggestions or ideas about what attracts them.
Even observations of newt behavior in captivity may help.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks! God bless!

Put down refugia. Boards, mats, anything for amphibians to hide under that can attract them and encourage them to stay. I get regular newts beneath mine and I’m likely 3-400 metres from the nearest breeding pond. They’re good for amphibians generally and the odd small mammal. In some areas reptiles too, in fact they’re used widely in the surveying of reptile populations as they’re a major attractant.

 

[Avon Avians]

Put down refugia. Boards, mats, anything for amphibians to hide under that can attract them and encourage them to stay. I get regular newts beneath mine and I’m likely 3-400 metres from the nearest breeding pond. They’re good for amphibians generally and the odd small mammal. In some areas reptiles too, in fact they’re used widely in the surveying of reptile populations as they’re a major attractant.

The nearest breeding pond would seem to be even further away from us than 400 meters. But there may be other vernal pools and small ponds that I don't know of that are closer to us, as the presence of green frogs, bullfrogs and painted turtles in our neighborhood would suggest to me.