Bubba, you’ve got a home here as long as you live!
While watering my flower beds, I noticed a hole next to the house foundation. I wondered what creature was accessing the crawl space. Could it be a rat, a snake?
I don’t get bent out of shape too much about wild critters. Most mean us no harm, and actually will help us. But rats and mice are certainly not welcome. And poisonous snakes would not be either, though I am happy for non-poisonous ones.
On a whim I tried filling the hole with water from the hose. In a moment this little guy popped out:
Bufo terrestris - Southern garden toad
I don’t think he minded the water; he doesn’t like his skin too dry, so he goes underground when the sun gets hot.
But I told him he’s welcome to stay; my house is your house, as they say!
He’ll make a meal of many a pest insect (slugs too). Maybe he’ll eat a few of the good guys too, but on balance he does far more good than harm.
Here’s more info on toads, and how to care for them in winter:
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 11th, 2011 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Garden Friends, Garden philosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 12th, 2011 at 5:43 am
Hurray for frogs! I noticed one in my garden too, and hope it is a she, and she is fruitful and multiples! There should be a place you can purchase frogs like you can worms. LOL. Wonder if they eat grasshoppers.