Tulsa Pools : Fix Your Pools
Cody: Welcome to the Dive Time Show. I’m Cody [Albright 00:00:04] and I’m here with my lovely wife, Rachel.
Rachel: Hello.
Cody: And together we’re the owners of Sierra Pools and Spas of Tulsa. You can find at sierrapoolsandspas.com or give us a phone call at 918-884-8427. That’s sierrapoolsandspas.com or give us a phone call at 918-884-8427. We’re also on Facebook, you can contact us that way as well. So what are we talking about today Rachel?
Rachel: Today we are talking about frogs.
Cody: Frogs. Ribbit.
Rachel: Yeah, specifically how to keep them out of your Tulsa pools. They can be really annoying when it comes to having a pool.
Cody: Yeah.
Rachel: So they’re one of the most common pests you’ll find hanging around your pool and in your pool.
Cody: They go there to die.
Rachel: Pretty much. We live in the country and we have like three ponds on our property, and the amount of frogs that you hear in the summertime at night is crazy. Of course we’re used to it because we live there, but anybody who comes over the nighttime is just like, “How do you sleep with the frogs?” Because they are really loud and there’s a ton of them Tulsa Pools.
But frogs love water, everyone knows that. And so naturally they come to the pool and … Because it’s like a giant watering hole and looks really nice. So we’re going to talk about why frogs love swimming pools, if they’re bad for your pool, and how we can get rid of them if you find them being a nuisance and being a problem with your pool. So if you ever wondered why frogs always seem to end up in the pool, there’s some simple reasons and some obvious reasons. It’s the circle of life.
Cody: (Singing)
Rachel: So at nighttime your pool acts like a giant reflective mirror for any light that’s around. So if you have any porch lights, any outdoor lighting. The water is going to reflect this lighting, and that attracts bugs.
Cody: Really?
Rachel: Yes, bugs discover a gigantic watering hole where they can get a drink and they land on your water and then-
Cody: Especially the wasps, so annoying Tulsa Pools.
Rachel: Yeah and this attracts the frogs. Because the frogs say, “Hey there’s a bunch of food over there, let’s go eat it.” And so they come over to the pool, they see the bugs, they eat the bugs, and then they realize, “Hey there’s a lot of water here, let’s go for a swim.” So they jump in and what they don’t realize is they’re not going to be able to get back out. So what happens is, unfortunately, the little froggies drown and then they end up in …
Cody: They drown?
Rachel: Yeah. They can’t jump out so …
Cody: I thought they breathe through their skin.
Rachel: But they can’t stay in water, they have to get out on land.
Cody: Ohhh.
Rachel: So they can be in the water for a long period of time.
Cody: Wow.
Rachel: But at some point they have to get out. And so.
Cody: Learning experience for me as well.
Rachel: They end up drowning, which is unfortunate. And it’s not the most fun thing to have to clean out dead frogs from your pool, that’s kind of gross. I used to love frogs when I was a kid. I used to play with them. I used to also love worms and snakes, and now that I’m older-
Cody: Snakes?
Rachel: Yeah, I used to play with grass snakes just pick them up out of the yard Tulsa Pools.
Cody: No, I didn’t do that.
Rachel: And just wrap them around my wrists and stuff.
Cody: I have no admission to do that.
Rachel: You know the little green ones? The little tiny green ones.
Cody: Yeah my friends would chase me around with those suckers, I hate them Tulsa Pools.
Rachel: I know. I hate them now. I don’t understand how I did that, but it’s on video of me like picking up-
Cody: I ate a worm once.
Rachel: That’s disgusting.
Cody: Have you done that?
Rachel: No, I have not.
Cody: The only reason I did it is because I said I did it before, and then my friends didn’t believe me. Which I never had before. And then of course me being the kid that I had to prove that I was right and awesome. And falling under peer pressure.
Rachel: That’s gross.
Cody: I grabbed a worm and ate it.
Rachel: That’s gross.
Cody: And I was like, “Oh, it’s not that bad.” And then they didn’t look. I was just like in disgust.
Rachel: Yeah, that’s disgusting. There was that book, How to Eat Fried Worms. You remember that?
Cody: Yeah, I never read it.
Rachel: Oh, well it was a good book. Anyways, I don’t how I enjoyed all that when I was younger, but I find it really disgusting now. And I find frogs pretty disgusting. I don’t want to go pick them up …
Cody: You were more of an outdoorsy girl back then too.
Rachel: I still am but … I’m not going to like … I don’t scream when I see the things. I just don’t have the desire to go play with them like I did when I was younger. I would seek these frogs out and worms, and I would … Anyways. Back to what we’re talking about, so if your wondering if frogs are bad for your pool. They’re not bad for you pool, in fact Tulsa Pools-
Cody: It’s just gross.
Rachel: Yeah and actually they eat a lot of the bugs that are around your pool, which is nice. So you’d normally have to clean those bugs up if the frogs weren’t there. But when they drown it can cause a problem with water situation.
Cody: It seems like when I was younger there was always a frog every time I go swimming at my cousin’s pool [inaudible 00:05:07], there’s at least two frogs it seemed like.
Rachel: Yeah in fact I remember last year I went swimming at your aunt’s pool and your … Well he’s not your uncle.
Cody: No.
Rachel: What was his name?
Cody: Uncle Mark.
Rachel: Uncle Mark.
Cody: Ah, I still call him uncle but he’s not my uncle.
Rachel: Yeah he was cleaning frogs out of the skimmer one of the days that I was there.
Cody: Yeah, isn’t that just weird.
Rachel: Which is really gross. So it’s not bad for your pool. When they drown …
Cody: If you enjoy frog legs you’ll really appreciate it actually.
Rachel: Yeah. But they get stuck in your skimmer and it’s just gross. If your worried about getting diseases from frogs. You don’t have to worry about that because the chemicals in your pool, if your maintaining it properly, take care of any bacteria anyways. You don’t have to worry about disease, they’re just gross and it’s just a nuisance Tulsa Pools.
Cody: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Rachel: So we’re going to talk about nine simple methods to reduce frogs in your pool. Just because they’re not bad doesn’t mean you want them in your pool. You don’t want them in your pool.
Cody: Unless you do.
Rachel: That’s just weird.
Cody: Just don’t listen to anything we’re about to say.
Rachel: Yeah, if you want frogs in your pool don’t do any of this. So number one you can install a fence around the perimeter of your pool.
Cody: Frogs can’t dig a hole, so.
Rachel: Yeah. It also makes your pool a lot safer and secure. So solid wood fences are going to be your best option because there’s going to be no gaps so frogs can’t sneak in there. If you have a chain link fence or something obviously frogs can jump through that. Installing a fence would be your first option.
You can use a cover. So at night or when you’re not using your pool you could put a cover over the top of it to prevent any bugs or frogs from entering your pool. Covers are relatively easy to install and remove, but they still need to be fastened securely to make sure that animals or children can’t accidentally slip under them and get trapped. But that can be kind of annoying having to put a cover on every time you’re not using the pool and take it off, but it is an option. Number three is to …
Cody: Clear out the weeds
Rachel: Clear out the weeds. Frogs love weeds and any kind of-
Cody: They like to hide.
Rachel: Yeah any kind of cover they can hide in. So if you want to reduce the frog population get rid of the weeds and landscape your garden using ammonia based fertilizer. This will discourage frogs from hiding in your plant beds.
Cody: Yeah. There was a frog in our flower bed the other day that just hopped out and said, “Hello.”
Rachel: Number four would be to turn off lights at nighttime. Because we talked about the lights reflect off the water, which attract the bugs, which then attracts the frogs. So you can try turning off your lights and this will cut down on the bugs, which will cut down on the frogs. In turn.
Cody: But then you’re not helping your frog population get the food they need so then they die. If you want to feel evil Tulsa Pools.
Rachel: Frogs can get their food somewhere else.
Cody: I’m just kidding.
Rachel: Number five you can use salt or vinegar.
Cody: Yeah they did it without us before.
Rachel: Yeah so you can create a mixture of salt and water or you can add vinegar to a spray can. And what you’ll do with this is you’ll go around the entire perimeter of your pool and just spray it. And once the mixture dries …
Cody: It’s one of those home remedy type of things.
Rachel: Yes. Homeopathic type. So once the mixture dries it leaves a substance on the ground that actually … Aw this is sad. It burns the frogs feet when they touch it. And so they’ll run away from your pool. That’s kind of sad, but it is a deterrent and I don’t think it’s any lasting damage. I think it just deters them.
Number six would be to install a fountain or waterfall. Not only is it a beautiful aesthetic and addition to your pool, but insects are attracted to stagnant water. So if your waters moving and circulating, bugs are not going to be as likely to come near your pool. And therefore frogs are not going to be as likely to come there. And it’s going to be harder for insects to lay eggs and create even more bugs to attract the frogs. Again, the circle of life.
Number seven would be to heat up your pool water. Frogs like cold water, they hate hot water. So keeping your pool warm will help keep the frogs away. Which is great for you anyways because it’s nice to have a heated pool. One thing you can do if you don’t have a pool heater is use a solar cover. It heats your pool and acts as a cover. So it’s a dual usage there so that can be really nice.
Number eight if you just don’t want to deal with drowning frogs in your pool, you can buy a FrogLog. And I didn’t know these existed until I started doing research for this podcast. But it’s this little thing that you can put on the side of your pool so that the froggies can jump on it and then jump out of your pool. It’s kind of like a lily pad type thing. So it provides a way out so that they don’t drown, which is kind of cool.
Cody: It’s PETA approved.
Rachel: Yeah. And the last option would be just move. Frogs are a big problem, you can just move. Probably not, but it is an option Tulsa Pools.
Cody: That last ones just a joke.
Rachel: Yeah, you probably don’t want to pack up and move.
Speaker 3: Or if you’re seriously annoyed by them you can just …
Cody: Just get the heck out.
Rachel: If you really, really, really, really, really hate frogs …
Cody: Or!
Rachel: Don’t live in the country with three ponds on your property because they’re everywhere Tulsa Pools.
Cody: Yeah funny story about a frog, that I can go ahead and tell. One time my friend and I … Actually no, I was walking home from my friend’s house, he lives close by so I could walk home. And it was the time to get home … What do you call that? Your … Your?
Rachel: Travel time? Traveling time?
Cody: No. When you’re supposed to be home at a certain time.
Rachel: Oh, curfew.
Cody: Curfew! The curfew was me home before dark and so I was coming home. And it was getting kind of dark, and so I guess I didn’t meet my curfew. But I was walking home on a gravel road, and I saw this rock and I don’t … Looking back on it now it’s kind of a stupid story. I don’t know why I thought this would be a great idea. But I thought it was a rock and it was real dark, and so I go to kick it … I thought it was something, maybe like a thing of leaves. But it wasn’t. It was a giant bullfrog. And …
Rachel: Oh my.
Cody: I’d never seen one before and really freaked me out. And I was young. I was probably like 13 or something. Anyways that was my-
Rachel: Bullfrogs are pretty scary, they’re huge.
Cody: I’ve never really seen one in the day and I wonder what they … They get big though don’t they?
Rachel: Yeah, they’re big.
Cody: Yeah, I wonder what they … What do they eat? Do they eat small children? How do they get so big because that’s a lot of insects for being that big. Are we done?
Rachel: Yeah, we’re done.
Cody: Okay. Hey, thanks for joining us this time. Thank you for listening. Tulsa Pools Thank you for reading. We appreciate you Divers. So as always, it’s me Cody
Rachel: And Rachel.
Cody: We’ll talk to you next time. Kay, bye.