How to Keep Frogs and Critters Out of Your Pool Skimmer

Lift the skimmer lid on a warm morning and there's a good chance you'll find more than leaves. Frogs, toads, lizards, beetles, and the occasional mouse all have a way of ending up in pool skimmers. Some are still alive and trying to climb out; others didn't make it. Either way it's an unpleasant surprise, it's bad for the animal, and it can clog the skimmer basket and cut the water flow your pump depends on. This guide explains why it happens, the humane ways to keep critters out of your skimmer, and how to safely deal with one when you find it.

Why Frogs and Critters End Up in Your Skimmer

To a frog, a backyard pool looks like a pond, and the lights and insects around it make it even more inviting. Once an animal is in the water, the skimmer becomes a trap:

• The current pulls them in. A skimmer is designed to draw water — and anything floating on it — from the surface. A small animal swimming along the wall gets pulled through the skimmer opening just like a leaf does.
• The walls are hard to climb. Pool walls, skimmer walls, and basket sides are smooth and steep. Many frogs and small animals can't find enough grip to climb out once they're inside.
• Lights draw insects, and insects draw frogs. Pool lights, porch lights, and landscape lights attract bugs at night. Frogs follow the food, which puts them right at the water's edge.
• Cover close to the pool. Tall grass, dense shrubs, leaf piles, and stacked pool equipment near the deck give frogs and other critters places to hide close to the water.

Frogs and toads are most active in warm, wet weather, so you'll usually see the most activity on spring and summer nights and after rain. In warmer climates, they can turn up in the skimmer much of the year.

Why It's Worth Keeping Them Out

• It's hard on the animals. Frogs can drown or die from exhaustion trying to escape, and pool water isn't a healthy place for them to stay.
• It clogs the skimmer. An animal in the basket, combined with the leaves and debris it's trapped with, blocks water flow. That can lead to the weak circulation described in our guide to a pool skimmer losing suction.
• It's unsanitary. A dead animal breaking down in the skimmer basket smells, makes a mess, and adds organic material to the water your sanitizer then has to deal with.
• It's no fun to clean up. Nobody wants to reach into the skimmer and find a surprise. Stopping critters at the opening means fewer of those mornings.

7 Humane Ways to Keep Frogs Out of Your Pool Skimmer

1. Put a skimmer guard in the skimmer opening

The skimmer opening is where critters get pulled in, so it's the most direct place to stop them. A skimmer guard fits in the opening and holds back frogs, leaves, twigs, and pine needles at the mouth of the skimmer, while still letting water flow through to the pump. Instead of being pulled down into the basket, a frog stays out in the pool, where an escape ramp or the steps give it a way out. (A skimmer sock doesn't do this — it sits inside the basket, so critters still get pulled in. See skimmer guard vs. skimmer sock.)

2. Give them a way out of the pool

Even with a guard on the skimmer, frogs will sometimes land in the pool. Frog escape ramps — small floating ramps that hang over the pool edge — give frogs, toads, and other small animals something to climb onto and get out on their own. Place one away from the skimmer, near the corner or wall where you tend to find animals.

3. Turn down the lights at night

Bright pool and patio lights draw insects, and insects draw frogs. Turn off pool and landscape lights when you're not using them, or put them on a timer. Fewer bugs at the waterline means fewer frogs following them in.

4. Clear hiding spots around the pool

Keep grass trimmed near the deck, pull weeds, rake up leaf piles, and avoid stacking toys, floats, or equipment right next to the water. Frogs like damp, shaded cover. The less of it there is within a few feet of the pool, the less reason they have to hang around.

5. Cover the pool when it's not in use

A solar cover, safety cover, or winter cover keeps animals off the water surface entirely while it's on. If you don't swim every day, covering the pool at night is one of the simplest ways to keep frogs out of the water and the skimmer.

6. Add a barrier at ground level

Frogs and toads travel along the ground, so a fence with gaps at the bottom won't stop them. A solid barrier or fine mesh along the bottom of a pool fence can cut down on how many reach the deck. Check your local pool barrier rules and your fence maker's guidance before modifying a safety fence.

7. Check the skimmer every day in frog season

A quick look in the skimmer each morning during warm, wet weather gives you the best chance of finding a frog while it's still alive and before debris piles up around it. Make sure the skimmer lid is seated properly so nothing can drop in from the deck side.

How to Safely Remove a Frog or Animal From the Skimmer

1. Turn off the pump. Always shut the pump off before reaching into the skimmer, so nothing gets pulled further in while you work.
2. Wear gloves. Amphibians and reptiles can carry germs such as Salmonella, so use gloves or a skimmer net rather than bare hands.
3. Lift out the basket. Most animals end up in the skimmer basket, which you can lift out by the handle without touching what's inside.
4. Release live frogs away from the pool. Set them down in a shaded, vegetated spot well away from the water so they don't hop right back in.
5. Dispose of dead animals and clean up. Bag and throw away anything that didn't survive, rinse the basket, and put it back.
6. Check your water. Test your sanitizer level and bring it back into the normal range if needed, then restart the pump.
7. Wash your hands when you're done.

How the Skimmer Shield Helps

The Skimmer Shield is a skimmer guard made by B&C Pool Products. It stops leaves, twigs, pine needles, and critters at the skimmer mouth — not after they've already been pulled into your basket — and its open-mesh design lets water keep flowing to your pump. Its patented, flexible design bows to fit into the skimmer opening and springs back to lock itself in place with no tools, and it's made from UV-resistant materials built for all-season weather, so it can stay in place every day of the swim season.

When it's time to empty the basket, squeeze the wings together and the shield pops right out, then slide it back in when you're done. It's designed to fit most standard inground and above-ground pool skimmer openings. If you're also fighting fall leaves, see our guide to keeping leaves out of your pool skimmer, and if you're getting ready for the cold months, see pool skimmer winter care.