7 Easy Tips To Keep Frogs Out Of Your Swimming Pool

swimming pool with frog on ledge

If you’ve ever been cruising down the road after, or even during a rainstorm in the evening, it’s hard to miss the hundreds of hopping frogs hitting the cool, wet pavement. Frogs prefer damp, dark environments and will take advantage of these dreary conditions around your home – and guess what perfectly provides these conditions at your home? Your swimming pool!

Frogs are attracted to water and they’re mistaking your pool for a habitable shelter spot. To keep frogs out of your swimming pool, practice strong property maintenance, spray citric acid or vinegar outside the pool, turn off outdoor lights, and keep the water warm.

There are thankfully quite a few ways to keep frogs out of your swimming pool (which we’ll go over!) However, if you are unsure how to tackle this problem, we recommend calling a professional who can help keep you and the frogs at-ease. Without further-ado, let’s get to it!

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Why Frogs Are Attracted To Your Swimming Pool

Frogs are amphibious animals that are instinctively attracted to any still body of water. This could mean a marsh, stream, swamp, pond, puddle, or even your swimming pool.

Frogs require freshwater to survive, but still, spend a considerable amount of time on land. If you’re noticing frogs around your swimming pool, they’ve either ventured too far from their main water source, or their original source has dried up and they’re in search of a new spot to survive.

Now, frogs don’t like the chlorine or salt that you may have in your pool, which they should eventually realize. However, this isn’t always the case.

Furthermore, It is unlikely that you’ll find frogs around your swimming pool if your home is surrounded by urban areas and concrete.

If your home backs to any forest, wetland, or waterway, it is likely that you’ll find frogs hopping around your swimming pool quite often.

Frogs Mean You Have A Healthy Ecosystem

Although a nuisance in the swimming pool, finding frogs around your home is actually a sign of a healthy ecosystem. 

Frogs feed on flying bugs and any other small insects that can fit in their mouth – spiders, snails, flies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, mosquitoes – while tadpoles feed on algae and cleaning pipes.

Frogs benefit our environments in more ways than we know, and they live close to us humans in more ways than you may even realize – and get this, they even hibernate in the winter months! For more information head on over to our article about where frogs live, sleep and hibernate!

What To Do When You Find Frogs In Your Swimming Pool

Frog in swimming pool

In recent years, according to the IUCN, almost one-third of the world’s amphibians are currently endangered or extinct.

Because of their level of endangerment, many management practices are asked to be highly reconsidered, so instead, we ask that you consider these common tips and tricks to keep frogs out of your swimming pool, but still hopping around the wilderness.

Try Attracting Frogs To Your Garden Instead

Since frogs feast on a variety of bothersome bugs, they make the perfect addition to your yard and garden. In fact, I encourage encounters with frogs in my garden because they are an important part of a healthy ecosystem.

If you’ve found a frog near, or in, your swimming pool, consider relocating the frog to your garden or a nearby pool of water safe for them to survive in.

As amazing as it can be to attract frogs to your garden instead, we do want to let you know that they can cause some damage to your potted plants if they get too acquainted – head on over to our article to learn how to get frogs out of your potted plants, to prevent this from happening too!

Add A Source Of Fresh Water To Your Garden

Frogs require freshwater to breed and lay eggs, and your swimming pool might just be their next breeding ground – so, it’s a good idea to provide a new space for frogs to breed!

To keep frogs from hatching in your swimming pool, skim the surface of the water often to remove any eggs or tadpoles.

If frogs have found their way into your swimming pool, swiftly remove them from the water using a pool skimmer or net, relocate them to another area of the yard, and treat the pool water with chlorine directly after the encounter.

How To Stop Frogs From Getting In Your Swimming Pool

Naturally, there are ways to stop frogs from splashing in your swimming pool. In all fairness, it’s not the spa they were looking for; they just happened to stumble upon it, hungry and hot.

To stop frogs from getting in your swimming pool, it is best to learn practices that prevent them from entering the forbidden area, to begin with.

Simply maintaining your yard, spraying solutions, keeping lights off and the water warm, offering other water sources, and covering your swimming pool can prevent them from ever entering your swimming pool.

Spray Citric Acid Around Your Swimming Pool To Keep Frogs Out

Frogs require moisture to survive. Their skin is extremely permeable and will soak up any liquid in their path, which is why using different liquid solutions, can be just the way to deter them!

According to the National Wildlife Research Center, it was found that citric acid was a natural and effective way to decrease frog populations. When used in combination with yard management, the numbers decreased even more.

In other words, simply spraying a citric acid solution around the perimeter of your pool along with properly maintaining your property will keep frogs out of your swimming pool.

When frogs hop into the solution, it burns their skin and their little froggy feet without lasting effects. The sensation is enough to send them searching for a new swimming pool to splash into.

How To Create A Citric Acid Solution

The easiest way to create a citric acid solution is by mixing warm water and lemon juice together. Lemon essential oil is also effective when mixed with water to keep frogs out of your swimming pool.

You can also purchase Milliard Citric Acid in powder form. Adding warm water to create an effective spray. Plus, it makes the perfect preservative too!

After creating the mixture, simply spray the solution along the perimeter of your swimming pool. Essentially, you’re creating a barrier to keep the frogs out.

Spraying Vinegar Around Your Swimming Pool Repels Frogs

In the same way citric acid works, vinegar also repels frogs from your swimming pool.

The acidic nature of vinegar burns through the skin of the frog creating a sensation they do not enjoy. The best way to use vinegar to repel frogs is by creating a solution containing warm water and vinegar to spray around the perimeter of your swimming pool.

If you’re looking to get fancy, mix equal parts vinegar, lemon juice, and warm water to spray around your pool.

I do want to caution you, though. There are very few acid-loving plants, so if your pool is bordered by beautiful landscape, try to avoid getting the solution on your plants or in the immediate soil.

Turn Off Outdoor Lights To Discourage Frogs From Taking A Night Swim

This is a big one! Although those pool lights look awesome and function perfectly for a late-night swim, it is likely that the frogs are also finding them fun and attractive.

Lights attract bugs, which in return, is attracting frogs to your swimming pool. Frogs prefer dark, damp environments, so it’s not the lights themselves that are attracting frogs – however, they like bugs. a lot and they will be able to hide in the night to sneak up and eat these critters!

It’s funny because frogs will really be most active at night. Have you ever heard croaking when you’re trying to go to sleep? There’s a good chance you have if you’re finding frogs in your pool, and if you can’t take the sound any longer – head on over to our article to find out why frogs are croaking at night!

Frogs Search For Moisture And Food

During dry, summer months, frogs struggle to keep moisture in. In addition to searching for water sources, they’re searching for food sources that usually come hand-in-hand with the water source.

By natural instinct, frogs believe that a water source also provides a food source, so your swimming pool is their drink and their dinner.

Keeping the outdoor lights off will keep both the bugs and frogs away.

Warm Water Will Keep The Frogs Out Of Your Swimming Pool

Frogs don’t absorb water just for the moisture needed in their skin to survive, but also for the oxygen needed to breathe.

Cold water has a higher oxygen content, so naturally, frogs prefer cold water. If the water in your swimming pool is warm, there is less oxygen, and they’ll be less likely to hop into your pool. Plus, a heated pool?! Count me in.

You can heat your pool with solar covers or a pool heater depending on your budget and preferences.

Moving Warm Water Repels Frogs Even More!

Also, allowing your water to constantly circulate creates an environment that is hard to survive in.

Constant moving water doesn’t allow bugs or frogs the chance to breed, so they’ll naturally avoid it.

You can add water features to your swimming pool or allow the jets to constantly run to create constant circulation and movement.

The Frog Log Offers Frogs A Way Out

And sometimes you’ll find that no matter what you’re doing, the frogs just keep coming. If that’s the case, there are products specifically designed to assist frogs on their way out of your swimming pool.

The Frog Log is a natural, effective option to keep the frogs out of your swimming pool. As mentioned before, frogs simply stumble upon your swimming pool; they don’t go out searching for it. Once they realize they’ve made a grave mistake at hopping into your highly chlorinated pool, they’ll search for a way out.

It attaches to the side of your swimming pool and features a ramp that allows for easy escape and ultimately, a cleaner pool. Of course, this option doesn’t offer any repellent agencies, it simply saves the critters from sinking in your swimming pool.

Cover Your Swimming Pool To Keep Frogs Away

frog taking a dip in the swimming pool.

This may be one of the most obvious options. While covering your pool every time you’re done using it may be time-consuming, it is highly effective at keeping small animals, including frogs, out of your swimming pool.

Not only that, but pool covers keep your pool clean from other debris. The number of pool covers that exist out there may be overwhelming.

A simple netting like this In The Swim Pool Netting is enough to keep the nuisance frogs out of your pool, but a more extensive cover is best for the family overall.

Offer Other Water Sources To Encourage Frogs To Stay Out Of Your Swimming Pool

Of course, if you’re trying to rid frogs from your property altogether, it is best to eliminate all water sources.

However, offering housing for frogs in an area they’re already hopping around in will keep them there instead of your swimming pool.

During intense dry spells throughout the summer, frogs struggle to survive without standing water sources. To help eliminate frogs from the endangered species list, creating welcoming habitats and environments for them to thrive is encouraged.

Some Ways To Incorporate Water Sources Around Your Property

You can intentionally place habitable pools of water around your property to house your froggy friends to create your own beautiful backyard pond or add a birdbath!

If you opt for your own backyard project to create a pond for the frogs, strategically place sticks and stones around the area and in the pond to allow the frogs to enter and leave the pond easily.

If you have a home that backs to the forest, wetlands, or waterways, keep a border of long grass around the other edges of your property to keep them where they belong – in the dark, damp forest.

Practice Strong Property Maintenance To Keep Frogs Away Altogether

Prevention is key when you’re looking to eliminate any pesky frog or critter from your home, garden, or swimming pool.

By practicing strong property maintenance and keeping up the maintenance of your swimming pool, you can avoid frog encounters altogether.

There are a number of areas around your home that are attractive to frogs and other animals. Identifying these attractants is the first step to practicing strong property maintenance.

And of course, doing something about it is the second step. Naturally, what we discuss below are all great ways to get frogs to stop croaking on your property altogether!

Avoid Leaving Cat And Dog Food Outside

Many people don’t realize that this is probably one of the key factors to frogs or other critters coming around your home.

Frogs will eat the dog and cat food you left outside overnight. They seriously do. This source of food will bring them in and the giant swimming pool behind them will be the icing on the cake.

Other food sources that will attract frogs are bugs. Try installing a bug zapper around your swimming pool to eliminate the number of bugs and overall, eliminate frogs in the pool.

Keep Your Lawn Mowed And Maintained

I’d like to bet you’ve never seen a frog outside sunbathing around your swimming pool on a sunny summer day. This is because frogs avoid direct sunlight. Sunlight leads to dehydration in frogs rather quickly. They prefer to shelter in dark, cool, and wet vegetative areas.

For this reason, frogs love tall grass; it offers them a place to shelter. Long story short, keep your lawn mowed to keep the frogs out of your yard and ultimately, your swimming pool.

Usually, the grass is taller around the edge of a water source – it’s natural and the frogs love it. 

However, tall grass around your swimming pool will is ideal for a frog to call home and they’ll begin to reside there. Not to mention, tall grass provides shelter for an abundance of other unwanted animals and insects around your home.

Remove Debris From Around Your Yard And Swimming Pool

Tree stumps, wood piles, brush piles, rock piles, and stagnant water create the most dreamy environment for frogs to inhabit.

By removing these sources of debris from around your home, you can keep the frogs away from your yard and swimming pool.

Rock piles or landscape rock stacked near the swimming pool provides gaps and holes for the frogs to shelter in before splashing around in your swimming pool. Try to eliminate gaps wherever possible and keep landscape to a minimum around your pool.

Debris and messy places around your yard also attract insects and other pests that can enter your pool and make the once-sparkling water dark and murky.

Also be sure to check your pipes and gutters often as these dark, damp places are also potential habitats for frogs. Seal any holes around your home to keep other pests away too.

Properly Maintain Your Swimming Pool To Keep Frogs Away Long-Term

frogs swimming in pool.

Maintaining your swimming pool is important. It doesn’t take much for your swimming pool to start turning green and begin housing an abundance of animals and debris. Be sure to remove any debris from your swimming pool regularly. Leaves, sticks, rocks, and dirt can attract insects and frogs to your pool.

This is the exact environment that frogs are searching for, so by keeping your swimming pool in pristine condition will eliminate the need to remove frogs from your swimming pool.

Frogs will avoid highly chlorinated water unless, of course, they fall in. By keeping your swimming pool clean and chlorinated, you can keep the frogs out of it!

Hopping Off!

Frogs are important creatures to ensure a healthy and balanced ecosystem. 

Protecting frogs from your swimming pool is important to maintaining nature’s balance. But if you’re searching to keep the frogs away from your animals and home altogether, begin by properly maintaining your property by removing food sources, shelters, and other potential attractants.

And if that doesn’t work, then try repelling them by spraying solutions that include citric acid or vinegar, keeping your pool water warm and circulating, turning off outdoor lights, and covering your swimming pool.

The takeaway – frogs simply follow their natural instincts when they stumble upon your swimming pool, so try assisting them before resisting them!

References

Bush, B., Maryan, B., & Browne-Cooper, R. (2007). Reptiles and frogs in the bush: Southwestern Australia. UWA Publishing.

Friendly, F. (2013). FrogLog. Earth, 2014.

Handy, C. (2012). The age of unreason. Random House.

Morrison, C., Simpkins, C., Castley, J. G., & Buckley, R. C. (2012). Tourism and the conservation of critically endangered frogs.

Pilliod, D. S., Arkle, R. S., Thurow, R. F., & Isaak, D. J. (2022). Hydroclimatic Conditions, Wildfire, and Species Assemblages Influence Co-Occurrence of Bull Trout and Tailed Frogs in Northern Rocky Mountain Streams. Water, 14(7), 1162.

Tuttle, N. C., Beard, K. H., & Al-Chokhachy, R. (2008). Aerially applied citric acid reduces the density of an invasive frog in Hawaii, USA. Wildlife research, 35(7), 676-683.

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