Early this morning after my hike to the pier, I wandered through the Small Gardens making mental notes as to what needed to be done. Gardening is one of those things without an end. To be honest, it has to be a labor of love or you might as well have rocks strewn about the place. I am not that way. I prefer to have natural growth and not some manicured lawn and bare garden beds. The Small Gardens became a refuge and I, in return, tend to the place. It was on the meanderings through the pathways that I came across a standoff!
At one point where a pathway splits, I found a toad and a grasshopper eyeing each other. Normally, the toad would have made short work of the grasshopper but, this time, the toad was hesitant. I do not blame it. Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are toxic. Somehow, the the toad knew this and although it was hungry, it was not hungry enough to down something that may make its belly hurt.
Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers have very few predators out to get them. To my knowledge, only the Loggerhead Shrike will eat them and that is after it lets them bake a while in the sun. The shrike has a habit of impaling its prey on a twig, barbed wire or thorn for a while before eating it. The toad had no way of doing this so it just avoided the grasshopper and hopped off into the garden to find a better meal.
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