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FRY FARM IN RICHFIELD, OHIO
HABITAT 1
POND ON SOUTHERN ROAD
The Fry Pond on Southern Road in late August.
Pond depth 12-13 inches. Covered with native cattails.
(Click on image above for more pictures)
Mom and Dad bought a 55 acre farm in Richfield in 1956, and there was a pond located almost all the way up to the north line. It was a pretty deep pond, at least deeper than it is today. In the Winter, we took out our ice skates and skated across it. Interstate 271 cut through the farm in 1966. Dad moved the house further north, right next to the pond. He also planted a ring of Willow trees around it. It took a very dry Summer to dry it out enough to walk across without getting wet. In 1994, Dr. Timothy O. Matson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History came out to study the Grey Treefrogs at the pond. Joanne Fry wrote an article about his work in The Richfield Times. To read it, just click on the image in the next column. |
Dr. Matson's research at the pond information became part of the data base that went into Amphibians of Ohio, Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus, Ohio (2013). ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The pond now hardly looks like a pond at all -- a marsh at best. But although it's covered by cattails, it still holds 12 to 13 inches of water across the full width of the pond. |
In the Spring, the Peepers, Green Frogs, Bullfrogs and Grey Treefrogs make quite a chorus. Now there's a chorus, but it's most likely composed of Katydids, joined by an American Bullfrog or two. You can hear them on this page, and a few more clips here. If left alone, the pond will fill up completely; and the county highway department has cut a channel to accelerate drainage. Several steps may be taken to preserve the pond. Trees that grow at the very edge of the pond should be removed, as well as the luxurious poison ivy. Finally, the channel that drains the pond must be plugged. That alone should raise water level by a foot. More happy days for the frogs at Fry Pond.
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