Toad in a Bowl by Gusto! 8-15-08 Nikon D80 300mm, 1/60 sec - F/5.6How would you like it if you were a dog and you went to get a drink out of your bowl in the back yard but when you got near you saw this?
Soaking Toad by Gusto! 8-15-08 170mm 1/60 sec - F/5
This summer one of our newest discoveries was the Colorado River Toad, also known as the Sonoran Desert Toad. We first encountered it on a rainy July night. The wash next to our house was filled with water and the night air was full of the desert toad's cries. The monsoon rains bring this toad out from hybernation. The large swellings on it are not warts but glands that secrete a poison as a protective defense against predators. You will get sick if you handle them and your dog will get really sick if it mouths the creature. So, yes, we did dump the water out after the toad left.
Naughty Toad by Gusto! 8-15-08 300mm, 1/60 sec - F/5.6
But he and his kin hung around for the rest of the summer catching insect by the front door and on the back patio. When I would find them in the back yard I would get something to shoo them back out through the drainage block, which is how they got in in the first place. On September 6 I found on hunker down under my patio table. he looked like he was in deep thought. I went inside to get the broom so I could gently shoo it away, but when I came back I discovered what it was really doing...
Toad poo by Kathiesbirds 9-6-08 300mm, 1/60 sec - F/5.6...when I discovered this pile of toad scat right where he sat. Meanwhile, mister toad was making for the front door!
Click on the link to read Further Adventures of the Colorado River Toad.
19 comments:
So I assume princesses in Arizona are glad they have to kiss frogs and not toads?
I guess I'd assumed little toads mad little nondescript poos. Your mega-toads? Eeep!!
Don't let those things in the house!
LOL!
Boy, that's gratitude for ya - give a toad a free bath and how does he thank you?! Bad toad, bad bad!
Hilarious post! Thanks for making me smile. I love toads so I would be delighted to find one sitting in a bowl, not so delighted with what he left behind though.
Oy! That's a big toad! This is the first time I've ever seen toad poo. Wow.
I could have done without that last shot Kathie. Somehow my coffee is tasting a little funny this morning. Pappy
Shizer! Good to see the Toad again.
What the texican and deborah said.
Nice photos.
Come visit,
Troy and Martha
Toad poo? I don't think I have ever encountered anything like that before. I'm so grateful that our local toady friends are not poisonous
That is a lot of poo. Our doberman would never make it there, he chases anything that moves and tries to eat it. Great post!
Oh my!
Cool shots though! :)
Cheers, Klaus
I'm alternating between "fascinating" and "gross!" - ha,ha
My first encounter, knowingly, with toad poo. It doesn't look good and not bad. It is somewhere in between I guess.
I just heard that all people swallow or eat at least one spider a year while sleeping.
Wow, love learning and now I know what toad poo looks like!;) Great pictures and as always, great, great commentary.
Like the Texican, I'm sitting here drinking my morning caffeine and am treated to a closeup of toad poo. Fortunately, it takes more than a little scat to put me off. Plus, there was that photo on my blog of the dung beetle rolling a ball a few months back, so I guess what goes around comes around (so to speak).
Love the sinister toad eyes photo. The poo not so much. Yuck.
Thanks for sharing??!! LOL
Man, that dude is butt ugly. Well, I mean no offense to the lady toads but gee; ya got to have better manners than that.
Hello everyone. I'm finally back after a long weekend at a Writer's Conference here in Tucson.
Wren, let's just say I'm glad I've already found my prince!
Lynne, I was surprised also and you can bet they will stay outside. I think they have finally gone into hybernation for the winter. Yay!
Deborah, LOL!!!
Celeste, yeah, I cleaned it up since I didn't want to step in it or have my dog investigate it!
Amy, me too!
Pappy, sorry!
Gallicissa, glad you enjoyed it.
Texas Travelers, I'm on my way to see you and everyone else.
bobbie, hello!
birdfreak, yeah, these things can be deadly to dogs!
Hi Klaus!
Hi Shellmo!
Abe, it is rather colorful isn't it; a gelatinous mess with a reddish tinge to it! I don't think I want to know about swallowing spiders though! Yuk!
Densie, I suppose I will do almost anything in the name of education.
Doug, you crack me up. I thought your scientific mind might rather enjoy this post!
Hey Kathryn, glad to see ya! I hope you liked the surprise "ending!" Ha!
Quiet paths, you sure are quick with the wit there! I'm laughing out loud.
Everyone's comments today are even more fun to read than my blog! Thank you all for visiting and commenting. If I made you laugh, you have more than returned the favor!
That's one beefy looking Toad! If I saw that toad scat I probably would have mistaken it for grape jelly.-Not that I would have picked it up off the ground when it was obviously ther longer than 10 seconds.
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