Decline of amphibians?

Maybe it's just a local thing and temporary to boot, but ordinarily we have dozens of toads around the reptile and rodent buildings, and some green tree frogs hanging around the house. For the last several months, I have seen exactly ONE (1) toad and ONE (1) green tree frog. Period.

I have heard vague stories here and there about amphibians being in trouble, but this is some first hand observations of something being amiss around here concerning those critters. Has any one else experienced something similar? Or perhaps opposing observations to set my mind at east that we aren't seen a serious decline in amphibians?

On a perhaps related note, this is the WORST year I have ever seen for mosquitoes around here. I have a few mosquito traps running, and after about a month when the mosquito outbreak first began, I have enough mosquitoes to fill a five gallon bucket nearly HALF full. Now that, my friends, is one HELL of a lot of mosquitoes! I had to change out the capture bag on one of the traps after only SIX (6) days running, where I have NEVER had a bag get even close to full even after months of running.

Here's a pic of an empty capture bag:


And here's a bag after just SIX (6) days worth of mosquitoes have filled it:


I'm thinking that perhaps if the amphibians ARE in decline, even locally, perhaps this is contributing to the INCLINE of the mosquito population. I would suspect that the tadpoles usually abundant in temporary ponds probably take quite a toll on mosquito larvae, but if the amphibians are basically gone, well MANY more of the mosquito larvae get to change over into mosquitoes.

Just seems kind of coincidental to me....

I live in the suburbs of Houston and have gardens in the back yard with veggies and roses. I keep spraying insecticides to a minimum except for the fire ants. I've noticed a bunch of those tiny green tree frogs out there this year.
It does seem that at the local park where I take and walk the dogs sometimes, that there are none of the frogs that used to hop around the bayou.
I wonder if there is any link between frog decline and the increase of contaminants in water supplies that has been found in some places?

http://consumerist.com/365629/ap-41-...d-sex-hormones

Holy Cow Rich, that's a lot of mosquitos!!
I'd have to agree with your conclusion on the mosquito increase/amphibian decrease issues being directly connected, no coincidence there.
I've seen a steady decline in the frogs and toads around where I live as well (although not as drastic as your example). Ten years ago I could find leopard frogs and american toads around my gardens on a regular basis. Last year, I found one toad. Really saddens me as I picked my house based on its proximity to wildlife areas too.

I agree Rich, I have been seening very few here, but the mosquitoes are not that bad. I think this is due to the plane that has been working our area.

The toads and frogs are what I love most about living in the south. Being that this is only my second spring living here, I haven't noticed a difference between this year and last year.

Well, there's a little more rain this year, but the creek bed was full of tad poles. Bry and I went out creek walkin on Tuesday. The water ways have changes drastically from last year at this time. The anoles are out in force, challenging me, head bobbing at me (gotta love a little lizard that wants to take on a human) i have also found several toads crossing the roads and in the yard. Hmmmmm it's raining and there's thunder......out to look for critters I go

Rich, I think it was just a bit early in the season, I have been seeing a few in the last week or so, and collected these at a creek near my house:

In years past, we have had toads around the animal buildings just about all year long. Heck, maybe this is just some sort of natural cycle taking place. We tend to see things like that all the time around here. Some years one particular critter will explode their population, and other years you are hard pressed to find one of them. I would just hate to think that the frogs and toads were taking a real hit from the environment. There are few things more appealing having around the place then our toads and tree frogs. They have sometimes been SO thick around here that we have had to use flashlights at night so we wouldn't accidentally step on any walking between the buildings.

How is the mosquito population around your place, Bobby? It's absolutely UNREAL around here. I've got four mosquito magnets running 24/7 and have a five gallon bucket nearly half full of dead mosquitoes so far. And they are still as thick as ever. I have NO idea where they are coming from. I put out a five gallon bucket half filled with water weeks ago so I could trap the wigglers from those females that did snatch a meal, and so far I haven't seen a single wiggler at all. We've been running mosquito magnets for years, so they have been (at least I thought so) making a dent in keeping the population under control. I don't think it would be very pleasant around here doing ANYTHING outside if those magnets weren't already pulling thousands of those blood suckers out of the area. It's bad enough as it is....

that bag of mosquitoes will haunt my dreams Rich.. thanks..

Originally Posted by Miss Tuniwha

that bag of mosquitoes will haunt my dreams Rich.. thanks..

Wait till you see the picture of that 5 gallon bucket almost three quarters filled with them. I took some videos of the skeeter cloud around one of the mosquito magnets as well. Finally got my main computer back from being repaired, so I may be able to play with the video stuff again.

Quite honestly, had the mosquitoes been this bad when Connie and I used to camp out on this property before building the house here, I seriously doubt we would have moved down here. We would have just assumed it is ALWAYS like this and would have just said NO WAY, NO HOW. Wouldn't have seen any sense living in an area where you just could not go outside and do anything out of doors. I have NO idea where they are all coming from. It's not like we live alongside a swamp or anything. And there just is no standing water anywhere around here that I can find.

Sheesh... Supposed mosquitoes mutated to where they no longer NEED water for the larval stage? Wouldn't that be just ducky?

Well, we've been seeing more toads around lately. Seen as many as four at one time, so nothing like the crowds we have in years passed.

But I think I know what happened to them all. They've become possessed by the devil, it appears. Funny how we only see them at night, which should have clued me in. But I did capture a picture of one, and without a doubt this photo DEFINITELY proves my point....