Toad..Frog..Toad..Frog..WHATEVER!!!

I was at one of my happiest points today..I was digging in the dirt!  Yep, it is that time of year again here on the Bayou.  The old cabin fever starts to set in and I get that itch to start planting my spring garden.  While Michael was up on the rooftop replacing more of those damaged boards, I was pondering just where my gardens would go this year.  With the building of the new shed, my garden space became severely limited.  That shed sits right smack dab on top of where my tomatoes were supposed to be planted so the search was on for a new spot.  Last spring, we were fostering Sunny, the pup and had to enclose a large area for her to use as a play yard.  She had a bad habit of bolting and not returning.  This area was a necessary evil just to keep her corralled and out of the way of oncoming cars.  Now the puppy play yard sat empty as Sunny has gone home with my daughter.  Aha!  A perfect garden area in the making was just found!  I decided to pull down the fence, remove the posts and enlarge the area by about three times the original size.  Things never looks so hard in my brain but once I tackle them...WOW!..they are a lot of work!  Still, if I wanted a garden this had to be done!   Once the fence was moved, I realized that a good bit of the dirt had to be removed as well.  This is the same area where Michael had spread the hay (also known as Johnson Weed!) and it had dropped about a billion seeds.  These seeds were all sprouting and making a regular hay field in the garden area.  Not good!  So, removing the seeds meant removing the top layer of dirt.

Yep, there is a frog under all of that sand!  An Eastern Narrowmouth Toad had burrowed under the garden soil!

That is when I found it!  As I was shoveling near the old gate, I uncovered a delightful little frog!  Poor baby!  I know that the little critter was hibernating and I disturbed its sleep but I could not resist getting a couple of pictures.  This was quite the unusual frog!  Or toad?  I could not really tell as the critter was covered with dirt and I was hesitant to clean it.  I figured that it would do no good to wash the poor little thing.  That might cause problems for the critter so my pictures show a sandy frog!  I was curious as I have not seen this little frog around here before and wanted to have a picture as reference when I researched it.  The frog was groggy so I was able to move it into better light for the picture but then I promptly returned it to its original bed.  The mulch that was dug away exposing the frog was placed back on top of it.  The little guy snuggled back down in its hole and was not disturbed again.  That part of the garden will remain undug for a while longer.

The little frog has tentatively been identified as a Gastrophryne Carolinensis or Eastern Narrowmouth Toad.  Hmmm...I thought it was a frog!  After reading a bit, I found that I was right..sort of..maybe?  The toad is not a true toad..more of a terrestrial frog!  Aha!  The toad/frog is sort of oval shaped with a narrow head.  The nose is rather pointed and I could barely see its eyes.  These frogs are usually brown (which mine was), grey or even dark green.  I pondered as to why I have never seen one before and soon found my answer..they are nocturnal!  The critters burrow underground or hide under logs during the day.  Then came the most exciting thing about the frog!  They feed almost exclusively on ants!  The frog's tough, leathery skin protects it from the vicious bites of the ants and allows it to feed right at the opening of an ant mound!  Their secondary choice of food..termites!  Wow!  I liked this little frog before but now I could almost say I love it!  Little Narrowmouth Toad (I insist "Frog"), you are so welcome to live in my garden forever!  I promise to be careful when digging and will try not to harm you!  You know..my sister once gave me a toad house...hmmm...I think tomorrow I shall place the toad house over his sleeping quarters just to be sure that I avoid digging there!