Arrival of the Toads

  To me, there is nothing better than spying a couple of toads in the gardens.  I try to leave their "dens" (small dugout cubbies) so the critters feel at ease and will continue to reside amongst the vegetable plants and flowers.  Their voracious appetites for bugs works wonders in protecting the plants.  Not only will toads munch down insects, they will quickly down slugs and snails which makes me (and the plants) all the happier.  So, the toads stay...along with frogs, lizards and non-venomous snakes.  All of these are a true gardener's friends.

  On either side of the house, there is a small pond.  One, I named the "Frog Pond" for obvious reasons.  Frogs and toads love this safe place to gather, mate and lay eggs.  It is not uncommon to find thousands of tadpoles hiding under the lily pads and water hyacinths.  The other pond is much smaller so is named "Puddle Pond".  Puddle Pond is merely a catch pool for runoff from the house eaves.  I concreted a small "stream" alongside the length of the house and then down the hillside just a wee bit.  This small pond also has become a haven for treefrogs and toads. Once again, the hyacinths provide a thick protection from predators so the frogs and toads feel safe.  Both ponds are within the gardens so my critter friends do not have far to go to find their dinner.

  This is the time of year for those billion or so tadpoles to start morphing into their adult selves and leave the safety of their watery homes.  One has to be careful when wandering the gardens simply to avoid stepping on these tiny critters.  They are no bigger than a pea and, since the toads are dark in color, hard to see when in mulch.  Thankfully, they are a bit "squishable" and can pull themselves back together if I make a misstep.  

  One such tiny toad was making his exit from the Puddle Pond when I was out and about.  The tiny critter hurriedly hippity-hopped up the concrete "stream" to the chive row where it quickly disappeared under the leaf mulch.  The sighting caused me to smile as I whispered out well-wishes to the wee one.  Now, hopefully, it will avoid the ribbon snake that lives about ten feet further down that stream and the black racer that lives under the plant arbor just to the outside of the chive row.  Be safe, Little One!  You have a big chore ahead of you keeping my garden free from pests!