Hi There,

We had a little green frog show up in our pond this summer and this is the first time that we have tried to overwinter one outdoors in our small pond (located in Michigan).

Today, we found her floating on top of the pond and are wondering what we should do??? Right now we didn't want to just have her floating on top of the water where she could freeze or get eaten by anything. I really hope she didn't die :( Her eyes are shut and she looks sort of darkish and kind of bloated but not really icky. If anybody have any advice they could share please reply back,

Thanks,
Jennifer

are you not sure if it is dead yet? if you dont know if it is just reach for it or touch it (with a net or something if you dont want to use your hands). if it is dead you dont want it to start to rot in there because it will contaminate the water.

No, right now, I don't know if she is dead or still in hibernation. There were a few warmer days and then it got really cold again. Somehow, I don't think her appearing at the top of the water is a good sign. Would anybody know?

Jennifer

Green frogs in your area should remain on the bottom this time of year. When hibernating, they're on the bottom. When they die, mine always are on the bottom. If it gets really warm (over 50 degrees F) in the water, then they'll start to come up since they think it's spring. If you do tap the frog, you should get a response assuming he's okay. I don't know how you can "tell" him to go back down below.