Toads

[DaveKuzminski]

Just tonight, we made an unusual discovery inside our house. We had seven little toads hopping in our den. They'd entered from the garage while the connecting door was open. It rained hard this afternoon, so I figure the rain drove them inside. I caught them and carried them outside to a good spot high enough that they'd be fine. Still, it was strange seeing little toads just hopping around following each other across the den floor. Here's hoping there aren't anymore that I didn't spot and catch. :)

[shakeysix]

are you anywhere near texas, oklahoma, kansas? there is a thread about this unusually wet summer. toads have been mentioned. usually my area is all dust and tumbleweeds. this year there are toadstools, toads and frogs everywhere. i had to mow today. i jacked the mower as high as i could and dodged so much my mow paths look like psychedelic stripes. still i think i got a couple. would NOT look in the bag--s6

[Chumplet]

Ew. I wandered into our basement laundry room and my bare heel came down on something squishy. It made a teeny crunchy sound. I lifted my foot and it was a toad.

I screamed (I was all alone in the house) and ran into the rec room and jumped on the couch. I think I blanked out after that 'cause I don't remember what happened to the poor toad.

[shakeysix]

good thing you're not a 'wind in the willows' fan--s6

[rugcat]

I love toads. Wonderful, fascinating creatures. They've completely vanished from my childhood home area--once plentiful, they disappeared in the space of a couple of years--victims of the great worldwide amphibian die-off that's been going on for the last twenty or thirty years. I haven't seen one since back in the eighties.

Everyone loves puppies and kittens, but I miss the lowly toad.

[shakeysix]

I have a grass catcher full of parts. I can mail them off in the a.m. Shouldn't be too hard to reassemble. -s6

[awatkins]

I bet that was cute, Dave! :D

Last night a great big toad was on our front porch, between Darby (beagle pup) and the front door. The silly hound was afraid to go around it! Finally the toad hopped off and then Darby charged after it, all big and bad. The toad escaped unharmed and Darby was finally able to come in the house. lol

[MidnightMuse]

:roll:

Well sounds like Darby told THAT toad who's boss!

[DaveKuzminski]

Some years ago, we had a plump toad sit on our front porch steps. We referred to him as our guard toad. He'd sit there while we were out shopping and would leave briefly while we entered the house and then return to his post as soon as we were all inside. He was quite the character that one summer. ;)

[awatkins]

Toad'll be back for another round tonight. We've got several of them hanging out on the porch every night looking for bugs. Poor Darby, they just don't seem intimidated by him. :D

Guard toad! I like that, Dave. :ROFL:

[MidnightMuse]

Guard Toad, or Creative Homeland Security Spy?

Hmmm?

:D

[Tika]

ewwwwwwwwwww shakey

[Gary]

Some years ago, we had a plump toad sit on our front porch steps. We referred to him as our guard toad. He'd sit there while we were out shopping and would leave briefly while we entered the house and then return to his post as soon as we were all inside. He was quite the character that one summer. ;)

We had one also, but we called ours "Door Toad". He sat under the splash shield and was so trusting, he didn't flinch when we went in and out. He spent the entire summer at our door, keeping insects from crawling under the door and into the house.

I even wrote a letter about him to the editor of our local paper, and it was published as a guest column.

[reigningcatsndogs]

I bet that was cute, Dave! :D

Last night a great big toad was on our front porch, between Darby (beagle pup) and the front door. The silly hound was afraid to go around it! Finally the toad hopped off and then Darby charged after it, all big and bad. The toad escaped unharmed and Darby was finally able to come in the house. lol

Herbie, the great hunting weenie dog, did the same thing two nights ago. He was afraid to walk down the sidewalk until the toad disappeared under the deck, and then he barked really fierce!! I feel so protected. Glad our house insurance givs us a 10% discount for having a guard dog on the premises!!

[shakeysix]

driving through the salt marsh last sunday was just like playing real life frogger. the roads are full of baby toads. one lane country roads with watery ditches so not much slack for dodging them. not as much fun as the game but the audio effects were hair raising--SQUISHSQUISH SQUISH--s6

[Chumplet]

Yesterday I was visiting my sister in North Bay, and a robin was chasing a toad all over the lawn. It took a few jabs before she realized it wasn't a worm.

[Bo Sullivan]

I love toads. Wonderful, fascinating creatures. They've completely vanished from my childhood home area--once plentiful, they disappeared in the space of a couple of years--victims of the great worldwide amphibian die-off that's been going on for the last twenty or thirty years. I haven't seen one since back in the eighties.

Everyone loves puppies and kittens, but I miss the lowly toad.

I don't think I have ever seen a toad in real life, only on t.v. I love the little creatures! Well done Dave for removing them to a nice safe place so that they can hop away (if that is the right word to use.)

[reigningcatsndogs]

We actually have found many nests of eggs in our pond, but they were in huge danger from the fish and snakes, etc., so we very carefully (without touching it) moved them to the smaller pond and they flourished, as did the fish eggs that were attached to the bottom of the nest. We did the same with one species of frog eggs here -- the species is very much in danger here, but we are trying to do our part to help them along.

[Soccer Mom]

I have a guard toad that hangs out around the backyard spigot. He sits under my car every morning and my son patiently removes him so he doesn't get squished. I'm starting to think the toad just likes to be carried around. Silly thing!

[Oberon]

I grew up a long time ago in Jackson, Wyoming, right next to the National Elk Refuge. Our house was surrounded by irrigation ditches. We had hundreds of toads. Walk out on the dirt road in front of the house and there would be here and there the dessicated carcasses of squished toads. We used them as frisbees. Then my brother and sister and I took pity. We had an old doghouse, which we fitted out with a little pond, some dirt and grass, some meat to draw flies, then we rounded up every toad we could find and put them in the doghouse. Some of them were huge! We made a sign for the front fence: "Toad Refuge." You can hypnotize a frog by gently stroking its belly with a wet finger. Never tried it with a toad. Frog is my totem.

[shakeysix]

august is really cranking up here. after a rainy summer the last week has been into the 100's. yesterday was 107*. we, too, have the mummified toad carcasses everywhere. i walked my dog out at quivira, our refuge, on sunday. could not believe the frogs molly scared up. there must have been a hundred of them jumping into the marsh whenever she passed. in past years we might see ten or twenty frogs in a whole summer. best of all there was a family of pelicans that have not moved on--the place was full of pelicans earlier. and i saw a blue heron fishing in a ditch of rainwater not too far from home. ibis, egrets and cranes too. all come for the amphibian picnic. ---s6

[shakeysix]

oh--and i think i saw an eagle, too. i have to check with the biology teacher today. the kids saw one on the arkansas between ingalls and pieceville last year. it is possible but they are rare in kansas. i cannot figure what eles this could have been. its wingspan was as wide as the hood of my car. i passed it on a sand road. it was in a pasture, on the ground. it flew up in front of me, big enough to block the windshield. definitely not a wild turkey. a lot of them around any more, too. the toads, the frogs, the armadillos, the rest of the wildlife seems to be returning. don't know if it is the rainy summer or the crp plantings--s6