Critter Skimmer 9-Inch Round Pool Skimmer Cover, Tan

I haven't seen any reptiles in our skimmer since installing this (along with 2 critter ramps on either side of the pool). The height of the staircase was a little too much for our skimmer and was pushing down the round basket that bobs up and down. I used a heat gun and just bent the last section of the staircase up a little bit for extra clearance, now it's a perfect fit. I wouldn't deduct any stars from my review for that because everyone has a different pool setup and I'm already amazed at how perfect the fit and color is for my deck overall! Every single pool should have one of these!

Since buying this skimmer cover, we've only found one mouse in the skimmer who didn't make it out alive. That said, he may have passed before making it to the skimmer. So far, no other mice, possums, spiders. etc. found in there/ We're pleased and would recommend this item.

This item should be a required standard install for ALL pools.We installed a pool this spring and found the following in our skimmers over the first month: a mouse, spiders, frogs, toads, turtles (now our pets), lizards, and countless bugs. We were probably averaging 2 dead frogs/toads per day for several weeks. It smelled awful and was embarrassing due to the fact that our property backs up to a protected wetlands area. I searched for a solution and came across these.Well, they work. We've had one dead toad since we installed them over a month ago. That's it! bugs still die, but that's fine by me. I didn't want to kill the amphibians, mammals and reptiles.I highly, highly recommend this item.Also, I spray painted mine and it held the paint perfectly and looks great.

The first day I installed this I found four toads and two mice in my skimmer basket. Very unusual. Maybe they saw the ramp and thought I installed an easy way for the litter critters to get a drink of water. The cover did not fit quite right and I used a Dremel type tool to grind off the inside lower lip. This caused the lid to sink even lower in the skimmer. I placed a piece of wire cable inside of a piece of plastic tube to make an O-Ring that I placed on the skimmer lip, raising this lid closer to concrete flush. Generally speaking, it appears to be a nice product, and the holes in the lid make it easy to pull the lid away from the skimmer with my large fingers.

We purchased this at the end of the season because this summer we were having more and more dead (and live) frogs in the skimmer every morning. I was thinking it would cut down on the number of them at least. The in ground pool was only open for a week or so after I received the Critter Skimmer so it is hard to give a accurate report but.......I did not find any frogs at all in the skimmer during that time! I am holding out hope that it will work just as well next year!UPDATE:Summer 2014 - sorry to say that this summer the critter skimmer has not done as well. I have no doubt that some frogs have been saved but this morning I had to clean the skimmer basket out and there were many dead frogs (and live ones!) after a big storm. It's not a cure-all but I guess it's better to have than nothing at all.

My pool service company told me about these when I talked to them about finding dead frogs in my skimmers. I had thought it was the chlorine that was killing them, but I learned they were being drowned by the pump's suction. The helical ramp gives them an escape route. Since installing these skimmer covers, I have had to fish out only a couple of dead frogs, whereas it used to be a daily occurrence. I did sometimes find live frogs perched at the top of the ramp under the skimmer cover. My only complaint is that the ramps don't click firmly into the slots in the cover. They've never come off, though. I can't remember how much I paid for these, but I know they were about half the price of the same covers on other sites. This was a great purchase. It really enhanced my enjoyment of the pool this year.

This product is a simple and inventive device to help small animals exit your swimming pool. It arrives in two pieces -- a lid and a spiral ramp. The ramp is to be shoved into a slot in the bottom of the lid. No matter how hard I pushed, the ramp would not snap into place. Right now it is wedged in, but will fall out if jostled. The company needs to evaluate the tolerances on their parts.

It doesn't fit my skimmer right. It's a little bigger than I thought it would be (my fault). But even if it fit, I wish the ramp was a little deeper. Either way, I think it's still doing its job. I will do anything and everything in my pool to keep little animals from dying in it.