Today I found a little toad and I named it Camouflage. I named it that because when I first found it I thought it was a rock. Then I realized that it was really a cute little toad. I was wondering what kind of toad it was but I couldn't figure it out even though I looked at my favorite frog calls site. I love Camouflage. I'll miss him when I let him go!
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Camouflage
Today I found a little toad and I named it Camouflage. I named it that because when I first found it I thought it was a rock. Then I realized that it was really a cute little toad. I was wondering what kind of toad it was but I couldn't figure it out even though I looked at my favorite frog calls site. I love Camouflage. I'll miss him when I let him go!
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3 comments:
Hi, Bonnie,
I like your picture of Camouflage. He reminded me of the "Toad Hotel" I had when I was a boy, growing up on the Mojave Desert in Calif. Might sound strange to have toads in the desert, but they are "terrestrial" creatures, and don't have to live around water, like "aquatic" frogs* do.
Anyway, I had taken a wood box and cut "doors" in the sides, and buried it, open side down, beneath the Arizona Cyprus trees that grew behind our house. It was connected to the surface by a piece of pipe, like a little tunnel, that came out near where the drain from our laundry sink came out. (We drained our wash water under the trees, instead of running it into our sewer system). Several toads moved into it, and some lived there for years. They would crawl in through the "tunnel", and then would burrow through one of the "doors", into the dirt, creating their own "apartment".
About once a year I would dig down to the box, it was just a few inches below the surface, and check out my "tenants". There would usually be three or four of them in there. They would hide away under the ground during the day, but would come out at night and hunt for their dinner. During the winter, they would burrow down a bit deeper into the ground to stay warm, but would live there all year.
I used to sleep out doors much of the year, on a cot, on a concrete slab, outside the kitchen window. The light from the window would attract a large variety of flying desert insects. One night while lying there, I heard a plop, plop, plop, and looked over to see one of my toads hopping onto the concrete. It sat there in the light of the window for a while when a large brown June Bug landed close in front of him. Toad eyed Bug for a moment, and ZIP, faster than I could see it, Bug disappeared into Toad's mouth!
Toad continued to sit there for a few minutes, and "splut", he spit Bug out, looking very soggy! I don't know if Bug tasted bad, was too hard and scratchy, or just wiggled and squiggled in the Toad's stomach too much, but he gave back his supper, and soon went off to hunt elsewhere.
Bug sat there for a while, and then crawled off into the shadows to dry off. What a story it had to tell when it got home that night!
I liked my toads, and I never got any warts from them.
G-night,
G-Dad B
*P.S. Speaking of frogs, while we were weeding the yard at the side of your house, I saw a green “leopard frog”. I tried to catch it, but it quickly went under the fence, and got away.
Hi Bonnie, this is from your granduncle Dave in NY. I've seen many toads and frogs but none like Camo, the coloration is very interesting! We have a young bullfrog in our backyard pool.
I like your blog, and I'm glad to see that you are interested in many different things. I believe those who take the time to learn about the nature of things have a greater appreciation of how wonderful life is, so you are very fortunate!
By the way, now that you live in Utah you might want to update your blog profile which currently has Vermont as your location. :)
Hi Bonnie,
Camouflage is gorgeous. Frogs and toads were always my favorite animal growing up. I love that they start out as one kind of creature and then transform into another. I also love the way frogs belong to two different worlds--water and land. I think I can relate to both of these things. Thank you for sharing your picture.
Love,
Aunt Bonnie
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