Toad relocation Part 2

Home again

Two days ago (see Tuesday, Oct. 19 post), I moved a big, fat toad to the sanctuary, where I thought he'd be much happier. In the sanctuary, I keep two shallow plates filled with water, just for toads. Key word: I. Yes, I thought he'd be happier. Evidently the toad did NOT agree because he went right back to the yucky corner where the air conditioner drain drips!

What I didn't mention is the sanctuary is clear across the back yard, a pretty long journey by webbed foot, I'd think. But this toad didn't care. He trekked right back to his corner, where I spotted him just a while ago. I just had to laugh. Now that's a determined toad!

And you know, I could SWEAR I moved him over to the sanctuary a few months ago, too....

Toad relocation

This chubby guy's been hanging out under our air conditioner drain, which is right by our back garage door. Not a safe place, I decided. So I moved him to the sanctuary, where I keep two special "toad" plates filled with water. As you can see, he settled right into his new home. Hope he stays there!

Toads

This morning, I was out making my rounds, refreshening hummingbird feeders and greeting everyone. When I glanced over at the plates we keep in the Sanctuary, I spotted this little guy, lounging in the moisture. I'm pretty sure it's a juvenile Gulf Coast toad. We've seen several around in the back yard, all about this same size. I think it's just cool when they find the plates of water that we set out.

Toad haven

So tonight we sat on the front porch until late. Nearly 10:30. That's LATE for old folks like us. For the first time this summer, we spotted lots of Mexican free-tailed bats flitting about in the darkening sky. I'm sure they've been around....we just haven't been out that late in the evening.

While we were sitting there, we heard a commotion behind us. So did Abe, one of our boy cats. James dashed into the garage for a flashlight. When he returned, we found a big toad in the corner in between the bromeliad and the African milk tree. Then I found a dish to set out near him with water. Alas, the lid had holes (a lady had brought me a huge wolf spider in a coffee container), and I had grabbed that lid. (The spider died soon thereafter, much to my dismay.) So I went inside the house and found a plate that I could trade out. As you can see, the toad found the water and had a nice time. Last summer, when we had so much rain, we had lots of toads. We kept plates filled with water in a wild area in the back yard. We hadn't done that this year 'cause we hadn't seen any toads.

Until today.

This morning, I rescued a toad, treading water in a container we keep under the a/c drain in the back yard. He looked a little bloated but alive. So tonight's amphibian was our second today!

We decided we'll start filling those plates again regularly with water.

Isn't he cute?