10-07-2009, 05:32 AM
Coqui CAN live in areas that are dry and not lush, if they are imported. There are coqui at Hualalai now, which is as harsh, hot, and dry a climate as you can ask for. They are living on the installed landscaping, not out on the lava, but they could do the same in any area where there are plantings. What quiets them down is cold, which is why they don't thrive up in Volcano.
They cannot be ELIMINATED. Spraying is ineffective when the frogs are sheltered by anything, under a curled leaf. And it is not practical to hand eradicate on the steep terrain areas. Not only are they hard to find, but what are you going to do when it's up a 50 foot tall tree? They are in the gulches to stay, and they are mobile, so they will come back. Areas that dealt with small infestations right away have been successful, but on much of the Big Island it was let go too long.
There is a guy who comes and catches them. A Hilo neighbor of mine got his name from the County. Sorry I don't have the information.
I have spent many hours trying to keep the coqui back ... out there with a lantern and sprayer, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. It works to get one or two that are real close to the house, but boy is it time-consuming.
They cannot be ELIMINATED. Spraying is ineffective when the frogs are sheltered by anything, under a curled leaf. And it is not practical to hand eradicate on the steep terrain areas. Not only are they hard to find, but what are you going to do when it's up a 50 foot tall tree? They are in the gulches to stay, and they are mobile, so they will come back. Areas that dealt with small infestations right away have been successful, but on much of the Big Island it was let go too long.
There is a guy who comes and catches them. A Hilo neighbor of mine got his name from the County. Sorry I don't have the information.
I have spent many hours trying to keep the coqui back ... out there with a lantern and sprayer, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. It works to get one or two that are real close to the house, but boy is it time-consuming.