I saw something new in the garden today!
When I was weeding round the base of a tomato plant, the earth shifted in a way that definitely meant an animal was under there - I brushed aside some soil and had a look and it was a toad!
(http://www.wincott.com/images/tomato_hiding_toad.jpg)
It's still out there now.
That tomato plant suffers from snails climbing up the wall and eating the ripe tomatoes - I never have eaten one yet! And I'm guessing that the toad is helping me out a bit there.
Clever don't you think? Toads must observe the habits of their food, and then plan their hunting strategies.
I wish my frogs were such quick learners... I think I have "remedial" ones... :-X
oh dear!
Well toads are very common while frogs are becoming rarer - maybe frogs should take note of their bumpy cousins
toads are more common? i have never seen one, only got frogs around here :( but i'll take what i can get :)
Toads are great aren't they! We have several in our garden and I love watching them, if you sit outside after some rain in the early evening you can watch them crossing the garden, it gets quite busy out there at times.
A couple of years ago I had a similar surprise and found one had half buried itself in a pot with a geranium.
Saw a frog yesterday on my plot - the 1st I've seen up there so very pleased to know they have found my plot :)
1066
Yes they waddle about all over the place. A large one with sort of leopard skin markings sits near our back door every night now - I presume catching some insects or slugs.
But the toad in the hole hasn't returned to his hole - I hope I didn't spoil it for him/her!
I've never been lucky enough to have toads or frogs before, and I really like them.
Quote from: pigeonseed on August 16, 2009, 22:40:36
Yes they waddle about all over the place. A large one with sort of leopard skin markings sits near our back door every night now - I presume catching some insects or slugs.
The larger ones are (usually) the females, when you see a smaller one with darker colouring they will be the males. We're planning a small pond in our garden so they can spawn :)
Quote from: pigeonseed on August 16, 2009, 22:40:36
But the toad in the hole hasn't returned to his hole
;D ;D ;D
1066
That's nice to know, I didn't know how to tell male and female ones apart.
:) I love toads, have loads on my lottie of all different ages and sizes,they refuse to use the log piles and shady safe places I have made for them,
they prefer to go in my greenhouses which bake during the day and live in my tomato and melon grow bags, I also have newts in my tomato pots which are quite high... can they climb? / shades x
Quote from: angle shades on August 29, 2009, 19:52:00
:) I love toads, have loads on my lottie of all different ages and sizes,they refuse to use the log piles and shady safe places I have made for them,
they prefer to go in my greenhouses which bake during the day and live in my tomato and melon grow bags, I also have newts in my tomato pots which are quite high... can they climb? / shades x
wow! you are lucky.
Yesterday I found one in my walk-in coldframe, nice and fat and must have been finding enough bugs somehow to stay alive. There is no water in there which concerns me so I tried to catch him to carry him out but no luck.
:) they only need water to breed in GrannieAnnie it must like it in your coldframe / shades x
Angle Shades - I love the story about the newt! I only tend to see them when I uncover or move something around on the plot.
1066 :) my newt is still in my tomato pot, she comes out and looks at me when I pick the toms, she's in the Gardeners Delight pot,every time I pick a tomato I'm scared others will fall and squish her ::)/ shades x
aawwww :D
I have lots of toadlets on site, thought they might be frogs but they are getting more toadlike by the day.
But I have never seen a newt out of water. That is great. Can you put some kind of cover across the top of the pot to stop the tomatoes falling on the newt.
:) Nancy the Newt was missing today ;but doesn't appear to have been squished by a Gardeners Delight ;D/ shades x
I don't know what Nancy's up to.
Yesterday I found a small toad (maybe the ex-tomato one) in the compost heap, buried under compost and another large speckled one strolling around under the squash plants (just stretching its legs)
I wonder how many there are, and I think it's a shame that, if I keep on taming the garden, there'll be less space for them. (there's loads of dense bindweed and dock plants)
I think it will have to be done gradually, so until the garden plants get large, I'll keep some large weeds.
here's wishing Nancy all the best in her new life and location :D
PigeonSeed - the toads in our garden seem to find all sorts of dark/damp corners to hide in, never quite sure where exactly they overwinter. But then our garden is certainly not pristine!!
I sometimes find them hiding under the mulch. Toads don't seem to mind bare soil as long as they've got a hiding place. Frogs don't like being away from thick vegetation.
:) Nancy has been missing for almost a month now ,
I 'm now growing mushrooms in the greenhouse, and guess what,full of toads ;D/ shades x
I picked a toad up a couple of weeks ago to move it from where I wanted to dig and it squirted me lol.
Quote from: oliveoyl_25 on October 07, 2009, 00:02:46
I picked a toad up a couple of weeks ago to move it from where I wanted to dig and it squirted me lol.
Blimey I never knew that !
Neither did I until then.... made me jump a bit!
I'v got frogs in the garden and toads on the allotment ! I saw a toad the other day when i was hoeing ,thought it was a lump of earth and very nearly brought the hoe down on it to break it up :o saw it just in time, shall have to be carefull in the future
marg
blimey that was a near miss!
I think they have been enjoying the recent rain as I've seen them pottering about in it :D
:) went to my brothers yesterday and he has frogs in his garden, I took some photos but I can't warm to frogs like I can toads.. I just want to pick toads up and snuggle them because they are soooooooooo cute ( and I do ;D) and they pose for photos ::) ;D / shades x