How Lime, Citric Acid, Soda (Salts) Kill Coquis (Hilo: Home Depot, buy)

[1hotnspicy1]

Here is the truth about how lime, citric acid and sodas (salts) kill coquis

From the University of Hawaii; College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. The community extension service that performs the studies and publishes opinions, advisories, reports and the below noted pamphlet: Coqui Frog, Control for Homeowners: Methods to stop the spread of coquis in Hawaii.

From ctahr : http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/MP-5.pdf

Page 2, left column under the Heading: Chemical Control of Coqui Frogs: Quote "HOW THEY WORK: Both hydrated lime and citric acid are corrosive and burn the skin of the frog, interfering with its ability to breathe."

Suffocation.

[hotzcatz]

Good. As long as they are dead and stay dead it's a good thing. Much easier than catching them by hand and stomping on them. I once asked an extension agent how to kill off those giant African tree snails and they suggested lining them up on the driveway and driving over them. Spraying frogs with some sort of spray is a much easier answer. I doubt frogs would hold still on the driveway to run over them, too.

[HiloDiver]

Oh, is THAT what I saw while walking the dogs today? An African Tree Snail? Darn, I should have killed it. I just googled them and apparently they are one of the most destructive pests. I'll be looking for it tomorrow!!!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Spraying frogs with some sort of spray is a much easier answer. I doubt frogs would hold still on the driveway to run over them, too.

It's actually quite surprising how little it takes to kill them individually, given how well they've moved in as a species and taken over the island. A light dusting with a little baking soda will do it.

And an air temperature of 113 F for 5 minutes, or a hot water bath at 113 for 3 minutes is enough to do the job, not just on the frogs but on their eggs. Nurseries use these techniques to decontaminate potted plants.

Control of Coqui Frog in Hawai'i - Hot Water

The point is that tropical frogs like coquis all require a fairly narrow of temperature and humidity and pH range in their environment in order to survive. If their surroundings are too hot or cold, not wet enough, too acid or alkaline, they can't live long. After some other methods were tried and rejected, the most effective control substances found to date all use a weak acid or a weak alkaline substance to disrupt the pH balance of the frog's skin. That causes their very pH sensitive, and very thin skin to break down, and since they breathe through their skin, this disruption of their skin causes them to ... errmmm... croak.

Fortunately none of the substances listed below is nearly as dangerous to human skin as it is to coquis', although any can cause irritatation with prolonged exposure and should be kept out of the eyes.

Spraying with a water suspension of hydrated lime is effective and fairly cheap, though the mixture has to be stirred continuously. Unfortunately it is not currently approved for legal use. The temporary permit from the EPA for using this material as a frogicide expired in April, 2008 and renewal has been delayed ever since. Of course you can buy it at Home Depot, and it is approved as a soil amendment for your garden, so if you happen to just overspray your garden a little... oh, well.

"It is not illegal to purchase hydrated lime nor is it illegal to continue to use hydrated lime as a soil amendment for pH adjustment."

Control of Coqui Frog in Hawai'i - Lime

Spraying with a 16% solution of citric acid is currently the only legally approved method. You can buy the powder at garden supply shops (mix 1.3#/gal water) or buy the premixed liquid. Storage life is essentially unlimited.

Frogs are killed by direct contact with the spray and not by its residue. For maxiumum effectiveness, spraying should be done following removal of dense shrubs and dead foliage to increase contact with the frog.

And respray two weeks later to catch any stragglers or hatchlings.

Citric acid is a weak organic acid, the sour taste in citrus, widely used as a flavoring agent and food preservative, even available at most groceries as "sour salt," in the canning section. So it's generally safe to use, although it can be irritating to the skin and eyes, so protective gear should be used.

Complete instructions are here:

Control of Coqui Frog in Hawai'i - Citric Acid

A very promising technique that has been researched and field tested and found effective is dusting their vicinity with dry baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) using a blower. But at the moment legal approval for this use is hung up because Church & Dwight is not willing to allow labeling Arm & Hammer Baking Soda as a pesticide.

Control of Coqui Frog in Hawai'i - Baking Soda

If approved, the cost savings could be dramatic using baking soda, thus leading to much wider use:

We also advise that a dust application would be more advantageous than a slurry solution spray because of its lower cost and less extensive labor required. The approximate cost of treating one acre with USP #1 powder applied at 400 lbs per acre would be $97, compared to a 25% slurry solution of the same powder, which would cost $500 (if 1000 gallons per acre were used). The cost of treating one acre with 16% citric acid solution at the same rate would cost approximately $1180.

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/coqui/do...natereport.pdf

[CyberCity]

Originally Posted by HiloDiver

Oh, is THAT what I saw while walking the dogs today? An African Tree Snail? Darn, I should have killed it. I just googled them and apparently they are one of the most destructive pests. I'll be looking for it tomorrow!!!

The African Snail can carry Angiostrongyliasis, or “rat-lung” disease . There is some concern that the slime might transmit the disease via larvae. "The Health Department states, “If you must handle these mollusks, wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Washing produce may not remove all infectious larvae, so avoid eating anything that you know has been contaminated by snails or slugs."

[HiloDiver]

GROSS!!!!

I saw it when I was out walking the dogs, and I just wear slippahs so I shouldn't step on them, yah? Maybe I should tuck a ziplock bag into my pocket and carefully bag up the critter and let it suffocate?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Burning and suffocating a living creature seems pretty rough. Much better for the frog to have my turkeys swallow them alive.

Ducks love snails. We will see how they do with those giant tree snails.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Burning and suffocating a living creature seems pretty rough.

Think of them as green cockroachs, that will help. And also consider that besides being a noisy pest, they are also changing the understory and forest floor environment in such a way as to make it less habitable by native critters, and they eat insects that are native pollinators, so they are seen as an emerging threat to fruit and vegetable production.

Much better for the frog to have my turkeys swallow them alive.

I've heard that chickens will eat them if trained that coquis are food. You have to catch some coquis, put them in the chicken's food pile until they get the idea. Dunno, haven't gotten any chickens yet. But that's only going to work as far as your poultry fence. One of my friends in Mauna Loa Estates had coquis inhabit some dense shrubbery near the house, where no chicken or turkey could reach them. He wound up using lime, even though it was ugly for a long time after.

Ducks love snails. We will see how they do with those giant tree snails.

A neighbor has geese and ducks that keep her garden slug free. I use copper tape around my raised beds, which slugs and snails will not cross. And when I see slugs, I use an old gardener's trick and sprinkle a little salt on them, which turn them into rapid compost. I've never seen the giant snails up our way, but they are definitely gross, and definitely dangerous to the health, because as CyberCity said, they can carry Angiostrongyliasis.

[colev]

does anyone know of an additive that one could add to the water that would not harm fish or plants in a fish pond, but not allow the eggs to develop into tadpoles, or kill the adults , eggs , as long as it would not hurt the fish or aquatic plants. thank you for your time and attention, Cole.
[email]colevining@yahoo.com[/email]

[terracore]

Chickens don't have to be trained to eat coquis. I've watched ours hunt and devour them. They are relentless and when a chicken finds one all the hens fight over it. They may have to be trained to FIND them, but I don't think to eat them. The chicks learn from watching their mothers, and chickens also learn from each other. They have a keen eye for them, where I don't see the frog because its blending in with the foliage, the chickens do see them.

Muscovy ducks also eat them, but I don't know that I've seen our ducks actively hunting for them. They also eat mosquito larvae, slugs, snails, and invasive weeds. And reward you with some big delicious eggs.