Posted by Sally Lewer on November 1, 2006

Q: Every night I remove two or three frogs from various rooms of the house. How to they get in and how can I discourage them in the first place?

A: You mention Darwin, so may I assume you're talking about Australia? There must be one or more cracks or spaces along the foundation of your home that allows entrance. If these are indeed tree frogs (these would have toe pads that allow them to crawl up vertical surfaces) they'll be able to enter your home at windows, roof level or whatever and not just at ground level. Guess I'd take a slow walk around the house and see where they might be entering and seal these areas up - I realize this might be difficult to accomplish. At least you can seal up those places that are most obvious and easiest to access.

I'm sure you don't like having these animals in your house but they're not harmful and if anything probably find an occasional insect or spider to eat. If I were you I'd get some kind of container that makes it easy to scoop them up and then gently deposit them outside. Here in the states I tend to have trouble with salamanders entering my house in the spring and I simply scoop them up and place them out in our woods - no harm done. Would love to see a photo of your animals if you can take a digital picture. Sorry I can't give you a simple solution but sounds to me that you'll have an occasional frog until your wet season ends. Thanks for writing and I hope this helps a wee bit.

John Wiessinger ( November 2, 2006)