Sunday, June 8, 2008

I Toad You!

Today was very hot...hot enough for me to reluctantly turn the central air on. Thankfully, an afternoon storm blew through and cooled us off. Rainfall often makes the amphibians that share our pond leave the pond's edge and venture further up into the yard. Sometimes a few frogs or toads will get stuck in the basement windows. After the storm, Derek rescued two such amphibious vagabonds--a pair of American toads. I took the opportunity to snap their photos for posterity. They're quite colorful! One was noticeably smaller than the other. Male and female perhaps?

More information about the American toad as well as its call can be found here. During the heat of the summer, these toads fill the air at the Twelve Acres with a pleasant nightly chorus.

6 comments:

  1. The littler toad looks perfectly content resting in your hand...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mare, it was a very nice little toad!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ribit...
    I love little toady frogs... *sigh*...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great toad pictures. What do you use for a camera. I notice you can get real great close-up of flowers etc., mine always blurs?? Not sure if I can change the settings, I need to dig out my manual.
    Have a nice week, Kim

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cute! I used to catch and release them when I was a kid. I never got warts either!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Paula, ain't they fun to hold? Gotta love 'em.

    Kim, thank you. My camera is a Nikon Coolpix 5900. I don't know if they're still on the market. Mine is a few years old but does everything I want, even takes videos.

    Kathie, our pond never had frogs until we let the cattails grow. Now we have four frog species and one toad species. Seems they like the neighborhood much better now!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment! I may or may not be able to reply to comments depending on how busy I am.