A Garden Filled With Toadlets!

   As I stepped outside yesterday morning, I suddenly became very aware that every footstep may bring death.  The ground was covered with tiny toads that had just crawled from the Frog Pond and from Puddle Pond.  Thousands upon thousands of wee toadlets were hippity-hopping about the yard!  I had good intentions of mowing but that idea had to be abandoned rather quickly.  I was not about to harm my tiny friends.  Think of all the bugs these things will eat!  I slipped off my shoes in hopes of not harming a wee toad if I did inadvertently step on one!  

  Once the toadlets change from tadpoles to miniature versions of their parents, they leave the ponds in search of cover.  They hop to the edge of the woods, under brush piles or into the garden in search of hiding spots.  During the daylight hours, they sit tight and wait until dark.  Then, they forage for any bugs they can find to fill their tummies.  It is my hopes that a couple of thousand will hang around the Small Gardens and keep it bug-free!  Oh, how I love these tiny toadlets!

Welcome to Puddle Pond

  Four weeks....just four weeks ago, I was in the midst of creating Pebble Creek and renovating Puddle Pond.  These two features of the yard make use of the drains to capture water from the rooftop.  Instead of letting the runoff wash gullies in the yard, I dug a trench, laid in pond lining and filled it with gravel.  This I called Pebble Creek.  With the help of a pond pump located in Puddle Pond and a long hose running the length of the "creek" water is recycled to make it appear as if the creek is actually running.  Along about halfway, a small foot bridge crosses Pebble Creek and allows for passage into the Small Gardens.  Since falling on bad health just as I completed Pebble Creek, this area has become my new domain.  It is where I must do my healing and I am fully appreciative of the hard work that went in to creating my special place.  I had pushed myself to create the space so I figure that I have every right to call myself Queen of the Small Gardens.  It was my doing and now I shall take refuge here.  

  While basking in the sunshine this morning, I saw that the frogs and toads that visit the gardens nightly have been busy.  Hundreds upon hundreds of tiny tadpoles are in Puddle Pond.  This makes me happy as I know that the project can be considered a success if the critters feel at home in it.  Most folks would have dumped some fancy goldfish or tropical fish in the little pond but it suits me fine to have local critters here.  The frogs are just as adorable and they help out in the gardens by eating a lot of unwanted pests.

  Puddle Pond is a delightful place to watch my little tadpoles as they grow and change to froglets!  It is only about 18 inches deep so the clear waters allow me to view the babies with ease.  Ahh, a bit of hard work has paid off.  I feel rewarded.

Ms. Toady and the Old King

  One good thing that has come from my being confined to the outdoor space of the Small Gardens.  It has made me aware of all the special things that are often hidden in plain sight.  In just the past four weeks of my realm being greatly diminished from the entire eight acres to a mere garden plot, I have discovered many interesting things.  Perhaps it is more the idea that I am appreciating things that I overlooked.  Small things are now stupendous.  There is not a day that goes by that I am not spellbound by an otherwise "normal" thing.

  Today, I found a toad.  While that may not seem to be earthshaking to others, the toad kept me fully entertained for nigh on a half hour.  Some may find that a tad ridiculous but, since my time is plentiful, the half hour was well spent.  I pondered the life of a toad...this toad...Ms. Toady.  The critter lives in the roots of an old oak tree that stands just outside the pergola that surrounds the french doors.  The tree is dying so many of its large roots are hollow.  In fact, the entire tree is hollow which makes for perfect dwelling places for so many critters.  The toad shares its root "cave" with a lovely old skink.  The skink was, at one time, the "King Skink" but he has been ousted by an upstart.  So, the toad very kindly let the Old King share her abode.  The two get along divinely and seem to have a great working partnership.  The toad, being younger, ventures further to hunt for prey allowing the Old King to stay near the doorway to their root home.  Also, the toad is active at night and wishes to settle in for rest during the heat of the day.  The skink is diurnal so vacates the root except when an escape is necessary.  It seems to be a win/win situation for the pair.

  Early this morning, I sat on the little foot bridge crossing the Pebble Creek.  The creek empties into the Puddle Pond with a delightful sound of water dripping over the ledge.  As I sat there enjoying life, I noticed the toad hippity-hopping from the Pebble Creek.  She was heading back to the root home for the day.  I thought of how her night had been busy catching the night bugs..many of which linger around the gardens.  Her belly was fat so pickings must have been good.  It gave me a sense of satisfaction knowing that the little toad was well fed and had a cool place to spend the heat of the day.  She and the Old King have an unusual friendship but it works.  I wish them both well.

A Matter Of Perspective

  Oh, so many years ago, I was irritated by the sound of frogs and toads in the pond.  You see, the "Frog Pond" at that time was designated as a "Fish Pond" and was home to a dozen or so very large gold fish.  The fish had been one of my rescues!  A young man who came to visit my son for the afternoon asked if he could "float" a baggy of tiny goldfish in the pond while he was here.  Knowing he had a large aquarium at home, I agreed to let his fish stay in the cooling waters.  When he was ready to leave, I asked why he bought "plain old goldfish" when I knew he had exotic fish in the tank.  "Oh, these are to feed the other fish!".  Well, that was not happening!  Even though I knew he was going to go right out and buy more goldfish, I convinced him to let me have the little squirts.  I released them into the pond and that was only the beginning.  Those tiny (1 inch) fish quickly grew to about ten inches!  I had the most beautiful pond ever!  Then came Hurricane Katrina and the fish were never seen again.  For the longest time, the pond sat vacant until the frogs moved in to set up household.  FROGS!  Loud frogs!  And toads!  Very loud toads!  Our Fish Pond turned into a Frog Pond.

  After the frogs and toads claimed the pond, I complained of the nightly serenading.  My once quiet Bayou was now resonating with the mating calls of several thousand frogs and toads!  The noise was so intense that it sounded as if the frogs and toads were inside the house with me.  Sleep was a thing of the past.  I fretted.  I tossed and turned.  Even though I grew up with a large pond full of frogs calling at night back on the farm, there was something irritating about these rascals.  So I cajoled the sons to scoop the loud critters and haul them to a neighbor's pond (in the dead of night, no less!).  The next night, the screaming critters had found their way back to the Fish Pond (or Fish-less Pond by this time.)  Then, one night, I could take it no more and got out of bed to sit in the old porch rocker.  Something had to give. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep.  As I sat there rocking, I started noticing how many different songs there were, how the tones were different and how I would hear critters respond from far away.  

  Then came to mind a framed poem penned by my grandmother as she sat in a rocker on my folk's screened porch.  "The Froggy Symphony" was her way of coping with the loud serenading of the frogs and toads in the pond back on the farm.  It dawned on me that it was pure silliness for me to let the sounds irritate me so as, in a sense, I was a recipient of an untold blessing.  I COULD HEAR!  Yep, the critters' cacophony suddenly changed from a mishmash of calls to a "Froggy Symphony" of beautiful music.  

  Tonight, the tree frogs are calling. The toads are trilling.  The bullfrogs are adding the bass.  The nightly symphony starts with the first few warm nights and lasts until the first frost of the year.  I have learned to embrace the noise as part of the charm of the Bayou.  Add in about a billion or so crickets, a hoard of cicadas and dozens of assorted owls and the night is downright soothing!  I can hear!

Almost Too Late!

  Well, I was almost too late!  Cleaning the Frog Pond is always something I try to do in the early spring.  Most of the time, the chore is done while it is still quite chilly even though I get rather wet.  Mucking around in knee deep water is a must if the water hyacinths are to be thinned.  Those things will clog up a pond rather quickly so each year, I pull out all but about a dozen or so.  That means two hundred make their way to the compost bin.  Hyacinths make excellent fertilizer so they do not go to waste.  That cleaning, however, is quite the undertaking and this spring, it has been delayed several times.  Last night, hundreds of toads and frogs could be heard raising their voices in their nightly serenade and love was being shared in the back yard.  The cacophony gave me a bit of a sinking feeling.  I was too late.

  This morning as soon as other chores were completed, it was time to get down and dirty with the pond.  The task was made even more difficult due to the fact that several clusters of toad eggs were already to be found woven in the roots of the water lilies.  This made it difficult to get the water hyacinths free and clear.  Several times, a decision had to be made.  Either a few eggs had to be sacrificed or masses of water plants had to stay. I did the best I could to save each strand.

  There was clearly no draining the entire pond as this would have damaged the eggs already there.  Half of the water was drained while the pond was refilling.  Hopefully, this did not disturb the eggs and the future toads and frogs will be happy with their somewhat cleaner abode.  I, on the other hand, appreciated the warm, sunny day as I was just about soaked to the skin with yucky pond water!  Oh, the things I do for the critters around this place!

A Hoppin' Good Day!

  This morning started off with squalls on the horizon.  While Mark told me that "they will pass over", I had this sinking feeling that was not to be the case.  I have learned to never believe him when he utters those words!  There have been far too many times that we have returned soaking wet from fishing trips out on the Bay.  "The cloud will pass over!" is not something I want to hear from him!  I know better!  Water will pour from the sky just minutes after the statement leaves his mouth! Sure enough, those squalls decided to hang around the Bayou for the entire day.  Only quick dashes outside were possible and then were usually to gather tomatoes or rush something out to the compost pile.  

  

  It was on one of those rushed outings that frogs could be spied everywhere!  Those little guys loved the drippy day!  Of course there were the assorted bullfrogs, green frogs and bronze frogs in and around the Frog Pond but I was more excited about the tiny toads and baby green tree frogs that had just morphed from tadpoles.  Most were no bigger than a pea and were so adorable!

  Mark and I found hundreds of baby toads hopping about the yard, dozens and dozens of baby tree frogs on lily pads, and any plant near the pond and lots of adult frogs just lounging about the grass and pond edge.  Am I the only person that loves seeing the yard just hopping mad with frogs of all types?  Probably.  But, hey, at least it brightened a rainy day!

Love is in the Air!

  So far, we have had a most delightfully cool spring albeit a wet one filled with thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes.  I fully expect that our summer will not be much easier and we will see our share of tropical systems move ashore.  As long as they are not too overly powerful, I am good with a storm or two.  They clear the air.  Speaking of air, love seems to be bouncing about the clouds right about now.  Birds are nesting more rapidly after clearing the nest of fledglings, squirrels are popping out litter after litter and the frogs seem to think there is no end to childbearing.  

  After a few days of drier weather, we had a day of thunderstorms.  This not only gave the garden a good soaking, it called out all of the frogs and toads on the hill.  Last night was a regular cacophony of chirps, croaks and trills.  I shook my head at the clamor since I knew what all this meant.  Sure enough, the frog pond is filled with eggs once again.  There is barely enough space for the lily pads!  I even had one pair of American Toads deposit eggs in a water filled flower pot!  

  At least these are all good for the garden and will perhaps cut down on the myriad of mosquitoes that also love this rainy season. I am good with the frogs and toads inhabiting the area, although, there was a time when the racket they make at night, irritated me.  The din made it almost impossible to sleep with the windows open.  The kids and I used to go out with nets to scoop up as many frogs and toads as we could catch. These were moved to my brother's pond (without his knowledge, of course!) but the next night, they would come hopping back home.  I could not get rid of the critters!  Once I came to that realization, I decided to quit fighting it and sit back to really listen.  Instead of a racket of critter noises, I began to hear a beautiful serenade.  More importantly....I realized that I should be thankful.....I COULD HEAR!  Since that evening, the frogs and toads have had free rein in the pond, hence, it became known as the Frog Pond.

  With the number of eggs, tadpoles and frogs/toads that now abide here, I am surprised that there have not been more territorial squabbles in the pond.  There have been a few but not enough to cause worry.  If it comes to be a problem, some will be relocated...far, far away!  In the meantime, I will just enjoy life as it is even if it means noisy nights!

Peace and Quiet!

  Ahh, yes!  The luxury of living on the Bayou!  I have had several folks recently comment on the peacefulness of the area.  "We love the peace and quiet!" they remarked.  I am assuming that this comes from the fact that they were visiting during the light of day.  At night, it is a different story.  Nighttime is far from quiet come early spring through late fall.  If you desire quiet nights, you better visit during the dead of winter.  I tried to make this point to them but they were having no part of my explanation.  "It cannot be that loud!  I would love to hear crickets and frogs!"  Little do they know...little do they know.

  Last night, the windows were flung wide open.  The cool air settled in the house as a welcome guest.  At first, the whispery soft crickets started their chirping.  This was nice.  Their sound has a calming effect.  Then the racket began.  Frogs and toads had invaded the Frog Pond once again and started their nightly serenade.  What started as a handful of each soon multiplied into hundreds if not thousands of the critters making sweet love songs to attract a potential spouse.  Now I believe that every frog and toad in the entire state has moved into the backyard!   At just about midnight, the ruckus was so loud that I was brought out from a deep sleep. I could not help but rise from bed to record the songs.  At times it was almost deafening!  And to think, this was all recorded from inside the house!  Can you imagine being outside during this cacophony?

  Regardless of the noise going on outside my window, I headed back to bed.  I laid there listening to the calls and thought about the "peace and quiet" of the Bayou.  Yep, poor delusional folks.  They have no idea just how noisy a Bayou can be!  Turn up your volume (and to get the full effect, turn it up all the way!) and take a listen to this short video.  (Sorry, it is only black but, hey, it was nighttime and frogs don't wear headlights!)