A recent news article got me thinking about frogs and toads. I'll talk about the article another day. Today, I'd prefer to think about why I like toads so much. And why I must constantly fight the temptation to pick them up.
My dad always liked reptiles and amphibians, so playing with turtles and salamanders came naturally. But it was not until we moved to the tippy top of New York State (Glens Falls region) that a true love of toads sprung up. Our house was at the end/beginning of a logging road. The yard and forest in back was pine trees in sand. Fun digging. My dad had a "native shade" garden. There were tons of peepers and toads around. And they seemed especially attracted to one window well in particular. I'm not sure why, maybe it was dew collected there keeping it moist. Maybe there was a light on that attracted lots of bugs most nights, I forget what was in that corner of the basement. Maybe the toads just fell in while making a bug eating circuit of the house. Who knows. But there were always toads there.
We even kept a bowl of fresh water in there. It was only about a foot, maybe 18 inches deep, the toads could have gotten out if they really wanted, I suspect. But my dad taught us how to handle toads. How to pick them up without hurting them, and without getting peed on. It was fun. It even prepared me for Junior High School when I chased a boy around with a live toad. To me, toads were always meant to be picked up.
Toads and peepers were always welcome, they ate the terrible black flies and mosquitoes that seemed to attack every summer. And now, I welcome the toads in my yard for their diet of bugs. And I hope they eat the slugs too. They are supposed to.
But the way the toad I found in my front yard cried, has me hestitate picking them up. Also the fact that I have not seen that particular toad since. And Chytrid fungus does not help matters. I know it is in Maryland. I just would not want to be responsible for spreading a deadly fungus to any toad, let alone one that is in my backyard doing good things for me.
Also, a moment of silence to remember Pearl Harbor.
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1 comment:
I wish we had a toad or two in our yard. I have never seen them in NJ. Maybe I'm not being v. observant. You are lucky to have them there. Don't know if I would pick them up tho.
We had two frogs in our pond on two separate occasions. I don't know where they come from because there are no large bodies of water nearby. A mystery.
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