The daToad family branches out
An admission of confusion begins this episode.
Fuzzy and family are toads not frogs, but not “true frogs.”
Please keep reading [*] and perhaps by the end of this piece you will have made up your own mind.
To continue………
So, I’ve been concerned: Fuzzy and the Mrs. hasn’t been seen in a couple of weeks. Their dugout looks deserted.
But yesterday I first saw what appears to be a young teenage version of daToads in an unexpected location.
The picture above only reveals part of this extended familial residence.
The orange backdrop above and behind my peek-a-boo friend is a Home Depot pail.
What would a toad be doing with that?
Well, there is a lip around the bottom about half an inch high. The original reason for the bucket is to catch air conditioner condensate from above. I use it to water plants.
When the pail occasionally overflows it dampens the earth below and is an ideal hangout for my BTFF [Best TOAD friends forever]. They perform a little DIY too, from what I’ve been reading, burrowing into boglike ground, in this case increasing the headroom and maintaining a soggy environment.
A positive cooperative effort between man and nature results, even if it wasn’t intentional.
And that neighborliness this afternoon brought forth a surprise: after the first guy [nicknamed Toadito] and I had eye contact, a second and then a third appeared.
But that’s not all; hopping through the nearby grass was yet another toadlet making a total of four.
Can this be the making of a freshman dormitory?
Animal House, perhaps?
To be continued.
{*] What is the difference between a frog and a toad? The more I read the more confused I become. Frogs have buggy eyes as the daToad clan does. So that is one strong marker for them to be frogs. HOWEVER, Fuzzy and family, I believe, are Gulf Coast Toads, or Bufo nebulifer, since they match the more detailed description and images.
And oh yeah, you DO NOT get warts by touching toads.
Here are two excellent sites to continue your and my toad and or frog awareness:
To hear Bufo’s call:
If you are unable to play the files, you may need to download and install Quicktime Player.
To read more about them:
http://www.frog-life-cycle.com