Ever want to build a treefrog house in your yard? Dr. Steve Johnson, UF/IFAS Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, says you can build one for your yard in 3 easy steps. Here’s how:

The treefrog house provides a place in your yard that several species of treefrogs will hide in. Dr. Johnson says they’ll go under the pipe to avoid the wind because treefrogs, they desiccate and, you know, if it’s too windy, they hide in there to keep from drying out. It also protects them from predators like some species of snakes and birds. And then they leave the pipe at night, the tree house, to go feed on insects. And they come back in there to hide in the daytime. These things are really easy to make and install. You just need a couple items.

Create

You’ll need a basic a three-foot piece of PVC pipe that you’re ultimately going to stick in the ground. You can go to your local hardware store, home improvement or warehouse place, Dr. Johnson says. Normally the pipes are sold in ten-foot sections. Depending on the number of pipes you want to make, you can get one or multiple sections. You’re going to ultimately cut the ten-foot section into three pieces. It’s important to get the thin wall, the PVC pipe that is 1.25 inches in diameter.  Don’t get the thick walled so-called scheduled 40. It’s difficult to cut. It’s heavy and the other pipe thinner pipe works better, Dr. Johnson says. You get that ten-foot section of pipe, and then you can use a tape measure to divide it into three sections of about 40 inches at length. Or you can just eyeball it and, you know, estimate it.

You start out by holding the pipe firmly. Secure it. Maybe you want to have a second person there with you. Dr. Johnson says you want to be safe when you do this, maybe wear gloves when you cut the pipe. On the first piece, you go to your first mark and you cut a 45-degree angle. Cut it across like that and then wallah, the piece that’s left is your first tree frog house. Then you go back to the remaining piece and cut it in half with a straight cut straight across the pipe, and you now have two more pieces. One of those is going to be flat on one end, and it’s going to be angled on the other. That third one will be flat on both ends. You can install it with the flat end going into the ground, or you can then cut that piece, at an angle, Dr. Johnson says.  And basically, you just stick them a couple of inches into the ground. You can hammer them with a rubber mallet, or just, you know, sort of use your weight and twist the pipes into the ground.

Install

It’s important you install the PVC pipe a couple inches, pull it out, and knock the dirt plug out of the bottom of the pipe, then reinstall it, Dr. Johnson says. Because ultimately, when you check the pipe, if you want to pull it out and look for the frogs in there, or remove a frog, you don’t want it to have a dirt plug. And that’s basically it. This is kind of like the you build it, they will come method. You install it in places where you think frogs will show up and leave it for a couple weeks. If frogs don’t show up at that location, then try and move your pipe elsewhere. If you have treefrogs of certain species, then they will come to use these pipes. After your pipes have been in place in the ground for a week or two, you’re going to want to go check them. And it’s as simple as walking up to the pipe and looking down it and see if there’s a frog in there. Often the frogs will be up near the top. Sometimes they’ll scurry down if they see you, startled by your smiling face looking at them.

Discover

Feel free to observe the frogs. Dr. Johnson says if you want to remove them from the pipe and determine what species you have, you’re going to need a clear, zippered bag and you’re going to want to make a treefrog plunger to easily and safely remove the frogs from the from the PVC pipe.

To do that, you just need an old dowel or maybe an old broomstick. Or an old rake handle that you can cut off. That’s long enough that you know it’s longer than the PVC pipe. On one end of that you’ll want to install a piece of sponge or maybe some old strips of rag that you wrap around them and secure in place with duct tape, says Dr. Johnson. You may want to use enough duct tape that the fat end of the plunger fits nice and securely inside the PVC pipe. You don’t want it too big that you can’t fit it in there, and you don’t want to leave any gaps in there either. That would possibly allow you to miss the frog or possibly injure it when you’re pulling it out. Once you see the frog in there, you’ve got your plunger one end, you’ve got your zipper bag on the other.

You see the frogs in there. You set the open bag over top of the PVC pipe, leaving enough of a gap that the frogs can jump out because you might get more than one frog. They can come out of the pipe and get into the bag. Lift it up. Be sure that you check it, says Dr. Johnson. Make sure you don’t have a dirt plug at the bottom. If you do, clear that out by tapping it with your foot, or use a stick or something. Then take that fat end of the treefrog plunger, insert it, and slowly push it all the way up to the top of the pipe. Any treefrogs that are in there are going to get scared into your bag. You remove the bag holding them in place, and then you can examine them through the clear walls of the bag and use your treefrog identification skills to determine which species you happened to catch, says Dr. Johnson. And there you go. You’ve got your treefrog house; you’re checking out your frogs and having a good time.

For more information on building a treefrog house and other frog related topics, visit How To Build a Treefrog House.

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