noisy frogs? (Hilo, Volcano: how much, buying, university)

[constantcuriosity]

I am just dumbfounded at some of what I have read both here and in other print, such as, "find one close to the house", etc... . When I said, that my daughter "jumps out to see how many she can catch in the driveway", I meant out of the many that are hopping out of the way of the truck lights, not just one or two! We do not have any vegetation close to the house, because we do not want mosquitoes, but we don't just have a few Coquis. They were even included on on the disclosure form years ago when we bought our house. It would be impossible to eradicate them even if I were so inclined. Unless the state eradicated them from the 27,000+ acre forest nearby, there is absolutely nothing to be done except enjoy them.

[hotzcatz]

Amend the soil in your yard with hydrated lime to change the pH of the soil and the coqui will move away from the house to where the soil is more acidic and they feel more comfortable. If the hydrated lime should get on the frogs, it will kill them instantly.

Several years ago there were folks who had a leaf blower with a dust hopper sort of thing that would dust hydrated lime on shrubbery. Upwind of frogs, dusting, then no more frogs, I suppose the actual delivery method doesn't really matter, handfulls of lime tossed into the air upwind of the frogs would do the same thing. I don't know if there are health hazards to hydrated lime dust, though. You'd think some would end up being breathed even with a dust mask.

We don't have frogs here since we are in the middle of a residential area and the neighbors keep them away. We won't buy a house where there are frogs and will actively keep them out of our neighborhood.

"Resistance is futile" didn't work for the Borg and it won't work for coqui, either.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by constantcuriosity

It would be impossible to eradicate them even if I were so inclined. Unless the state eradicated them from the 27,000+ acre forest nearby, there is absolutely nothing to be done except enjoy them.

Agreed that you can't just do it once and be done with it, but there's no reason you couldn't clear your own property with a little effort. For sure, if it were my decision I'd want to clear a strip around the house so they couldn't get right up close.

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Amend the soil in your yard with hydrated lime to change the pH of the soil and the coqui will move away from the house to where the soil is more acidic and they feel more comfortable. If the hydrated lime should get on the frogs, it will kill them instantly. Several years ago there were folks who had a leaf blower with a dust hopper sort of thing that would dust hydrated lime on shrubbery. Upwind of frogs, dusting, then no more frogs, I suppose the actual delivery method doesn't really matter, handfulls of lime tossed into the air upwind of the frogs would do the same thing. I don't know if there are health hazards to hydrated lime dust, though. You'd think some would end up being breathed even with a dust mask.

What kills coquis, and other thin-skinned tropical amphibians, is any change to the pH level of their skin, because they breathe through their skin, and even slight changes in pH mess up that process... either a little more acidic (vinegar) or a little more alkalai (baking soda) will do the trick. It's not necessary to use harsher chemicals.

The only EPA Approved method at the moment is to spray them with an aqueous suspension of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) but the special spray equipment needed and the expense of the material have reduced the use of this method the last few years. It's still the only method used by community organizations. BTW, the delay in getting this method approved in the first place was apparently a key factor in the ineffectiveness of efforts to control the initial outbreak, back in 1988.

Second most popular technique is using hydrated lime to "whitewash" their habitat. This is not EPA approved, so commercial exterminators can't use it, but individuals can buy it at the garden store and it is approved for use as a soil amendment, so people with coquis to deal with just get busy with soil amendment. But it is harsh if breathed, and you don't want it in your eyes, so be careful.

The latest technique, not approved but apparently both effective and safe, is to use leaf blowers to apply baking soda as a powder, because it has the ability to waft around and curl under the leaf shelter where the coquis hide, versus the liquid solutions which have to wet the frog to be effective. Early trials were quite positive, but oddly this method ran into opposition from Church & Dwight, maker of Arm & Hammer, who didn't want their product approved as a pesticide for fear it would scare consumers away from its kitchen uses.

Now, let's talk about deterring invasion. Nurseries are using to hot water to kill frogs and eggs in potted plants, but picking up plants at Home Depot or the Farmers Market can bring unwanted hitchhikers home with you, and the simplest and most effective way to eliminate the threat is to place the entire plant inside a plastic bag, tie it up tightly, and then place the bag in the sun for three days. That will cook anything that is tagging along.

"Resistance is futile" didn't work for the Borg and it won't work for coqui, either.

I'm with you. If any show up on my property, it's war! So far I've been very lucky. But the barbarians are definitely at the gate. The price of sonic freedom is eternal vigilance!

Now, if roosters were only so easy to deal with...

[constantcuriosity]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Now, if roosters were only so easy to deal with...

See, I like the roosters also! They remind me of being at my Grandparent's house as a kid. And the roosters in our neighborhood can't tell time either. Now, I will say that the wild boars bother me. I do not like them in the yard. I am scared of them. In Montana though, we have a black bear that hangs out in the yard periodically, so it is six to one, half a dozen to the other.

[hotzcatz]

Chicken soup cures crowing. Guaranteed! Sausage also keeps pigs from digging up your garden, too.

There is someone in our residential neighborhood who has about a dozen roosters and the neighbors have been grumbling among themselves for about a year waiting to see if they should do something about it. I'm thinking another one or two roosters and someone will do something although nobody is quite sure who or what yet. Folks really hate filing official complaints, I think someone may go over and chat with the rooster's owner, perhaps, first. Give it a few more months and we'll see. Our neighborhood doesn't move quickly. I think a big BBQ would cheer up the whole neighborhood, including the vegetarians, but it hasn't gotten to that point, yet. The fellow with the roosters will probably move them out to somewhere else.

Given a choice between roosters or coqui, I'd choose "neither".

[Due]

Originally Posted by OpenD

the simplest and most effective way to eliminate the threat is to place the entire plant inside a plastic bag, tie it up tightly, and then place the bag in the sun for three days. That will cook anything that is tagging along.

Great info in your posts!
I'm afraid putting the plant in a bag for 3 days will also cook the plant:at least in Kohala.

[constantcuriosity]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Chicken soup cures crowing. Guaranteed! Sausage also keeps pigs from digging up your garden

Hehe, I think that sausage might be the best solution! I've never really been a hunter (just ask the deer that come in my house if I leave my back door open), but a freezer full of pork instead of an intimidating garden full isn't such bad idea.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Due

Great info in your posts!
I'm afraid putting the plant in a bag for 3 days will also cook the plant:at least in Kohala.

Can you just bag the soil and leave the plant outside the bag? I also think putting the whole plant in a bag for 3 days in the sun, would kill the plant.

[hotzcatz]

If it were me, I'd soak it in a bucket of lime or baking soda water, that should fix things. Or import cuttings and seeds instead of plants in soil, but sometimes that's not an option.

[hawaiian by heart]

Give the poor frogs a break ok, they are nothing compaired to the noise some CDF Hawai'i posters make on here, talk, talk, talk, have an opinion on any subject and have to be experts.

A great solution to the frog issues, send a few CDF Hawai'i posters (we know who) over to the Hilo area, to start talking and bore them into surrendering and leaving. Maybe even say "why you make so much stink frogs? you no live here". Or heck just talk about money 24/7 even while living in the Aloha state that will get them screaming out da door. It worked well already in getting rid of locals. The frogs don't stand a chance lol.

I know another species thats just as invasive and more destructive then the frogs. But radiation, speaking pidgin, flooding them wit da aloha spirit, bribing them with crackseed and baked manapua, givin dem stink eye, auwe no work! tay tougher den da cockroaches are.