Update: Dead Frogs at Chesterfield Lake

Thomas McCarthy, Chesterfield’s Parks and Recreation Director, called Patch to update residents on the at

"I talked to a biologist from the (Missouri) department of conservation," he said. He said it was the MDC's opinion that the lake water was too warm after the prolonged heat wave and was causing stress to the tadpoles.

He said the MDC had heard other reports of fish kills around the area, mostly due to the heat and drought.

"Weaker fish are stressed now," he said. "Treating the lake pushed them over the edge. People care about the lake and don't like to hear that the animals died, but that's the nature of the beast," he said.

McCarthy also pointed out that an area where a Patch reporter had seen the most dead tadpoles--at least 30 in a fifteen-foot stretch of shoreline--was also the most shallow part of the lake. The bullfrog tadpoles were about four to six inches in length, and hard to miss.

"The treatment reduces oxygen for a while," he said. The lack of oxygen in the lake water is stressful to the wildlife that live there.

"We treated one-sixth of the lake," he said. He also said that MDC biologist felt the lake had enough aeration from the pump system and fountain.

McCarthy said that he walked the lake again on Friday and didn't see any more dead frogs or tadpoles. He said his employees had cleaned up the dead tadpoles that remained on the shore.

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