Pond Animals
A pond with animals enriches your garden pond and supports biodiversity, from croaking frogs to fluttering dragonflies. freshwater mussels and pond snails contribute to all-natural filtration of the pond, while aquatic animals such as salamanders are attracted to the water and make the pond a lively place.
In order to attract pond animals and insects to your garden pond, it is essential to design your pond naturally so that the pond meets the needs of pond and garden animals in terms of shelter and nesting space.
Damselflies, Coenagrionidae: Order of the dragonfly family
All about damselflies
Damselflies are a subgroup of the insect order Odonata, which also includes the dragonflies...Dragonflies, Odonata: Winged insects
All about dragonflies
Dragonflies are intriguing insects that you often see in...Turtles, Testudines: Reptiles with a large external shell
All about turtles
Turtles are fascinating animals belonging to the order Chelonia. They exist in a...Toads, Bufonidae: Family of frog-like animals
All about toads
Toads are amphibians that belong to the...Frogs, anura: From frogspawn to adult amphibians
All about frogs
Frogs are amphibians characterized by their...Ducks: Luring and repelling the duck to and from the pond
Do ducks need a pond?
Ducks don't necessarily have a pond....Damselflies and dragonflies | Colorful insects in and around the pond
Posthorn snail: The natural vacuum cleaner of the pond
Where does the posthorn snail come from?
The posthorn snail, also called Planorbarius corneus, is a freshwater snail that occurs...Salamanders, Caudata: Vertebrates belonging to amphibians
All about Salamanders
The newt is an amphibian found in wetlands in...Frogspawn: The process from tadpole to frog
What is frogspawn?
Frogspawn are the eggs of frogs that...Animal-friendly pond: How to attract animals to garden pond
Enrichment for your garden
A healthy pond...Want more helpful tips?
Frequently asked questions about pond animals
For many people, the pond is not really complete until there are frogs that also reproduce in it. To make this happen, it is advisable to make the pond as natural as possible. A pond several meters in diameter and at least -80 cm deep is necessary for frogs to feel so at home that they will also lay eggs. It also allows them to descend deep enough to hibernate at the bottom. Amphibians like peace and quiet, so a quiet corner of the garden with about six hours of sun a day and no water fountain or running water are important points to consider when building your pond for animals. Also check out our step-by-step plan for building a pond.
Once you build a pond with sufficient and varied pond plants, you make your pond attractive to many animals and insects. All need water and you will find that aquatic insects, snails and water beetles will soon be off the hook. If your pond is deep and accessible enough with enough hiding places, frogs (or toads or salamanders) will also find their way to the water. And dragonflies are beautiful creations that you definitely want to welcome in the pond; the larvae are real mosquito catchers. Win-win, then. Tip: It can help to add a bucket of water from a nearby pond or ditch when you build your pond. Many critters and bacteria already live in this and will find their niche in the new habitat.
The small newt is the salamander we often find in our garden ponds. With its camouflage colors of gray and olive, it completely blends into the water. Very recognizable are its black dots and orange belly, although on land it is brownish in color so as not to stand out. It is found throughout the Netherlands, so there is a good chance that the small newt - growing to 10 to 11 cm in length - will find its way to your pond. The salamander species has a specific menu, as it likes to eat copepods, water fleas and dance fly larvae.
Salamanders, like frogs, are amphibians, and in our country the small newt in particular is found in ponds. Their habitat conditions are largely similar to those of frogs (see above). But salamanders are more critical. Whereas frogs know how to locate virtually every body of water in a residential area, the same is not always true for salamanders. Therefore, you are more likely to find a salamander in the pond if you live closer to nature and not in a completely built-up area. What certainly helps is landscaping the rest of your garden with shady, preferably damp areas and low plants. That's what newts love.
Dragonflies are hunters and are constantly on the lookout for small, flying insects. They are beautiful creatures that - like the damselfly - are an asset to your garden. In fact, they are also very useful because, for example, they eat eye gnats and mosquito larvae. Even under the water surface they know how to find the larvae; these are eaten by the dragonfly larvae that live underwater. This immediately shows why dragonflies need water: they deposit their eggs on plants just above the water surface. The eggs hatch under water and the larvae grow up at the bottom of the pond. So if you want to attract dragonflies, make sure there are plenty of flowering aquatic plants in and around the pond.