Passport to Texas

Don Cash’s frog pond.

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This is Passport to Texas

Don Cash is one of the producers of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS. At work, he creates the shows. At home, he creates wildlife habitat.

As a matter of fact, when I leave here and head home, I have my own little nature preserve waiting for me.  This…is my frog pond.

Don, who lives in southwestern Travis County, started his pond about 10 years ago, first filling it with goldfish.

Now, the goldfish are really nice, but the pond attracts other animals as well. Every spring it seems every frog in the neighborhood hangs out here.

Don wanted to know how frogs find his pond, when the nearest creek is three miles away, so he asked Andy Gluesenkamp, Director of Conservation at the San Antonio Zoo, to explain.

Part of it is random chance, frogs finding it. But also, once a frog finds it, and there’s a male calling, other frogs are going to be attracted to that.

Andy says frogs aren’t the only ones using the pond.

When you build a fish pond you can expect other wildlife to show up. Birds will come and drink and bathe. Frogs will show up and breed and feed. And then snakes and other predators may show up and feed on those frogs.

Leopard frogs, Gulf Coast toads and myriad other critters call Don Cash’s frog pond home. And it’s featured on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show next week. Check local listings.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.