Saturday, August 9, 2008 - Toads
"Whoever has not had a pet toad has missed a most entertaining experience. Toad actions are surprisingly interesting..." Handbook of Nature Study
Last year, I found some great finds at a yard sale. I found two large fish tanks. Someone asked if I had thoughts of getting fish. My response was, "No, not really, but I homeschool and I have a boy so I'm sure we will be able to fill it with something."
Cameron and I turned one of those tanks into a terrarium. Right now it is housing two toads, a salamander or two, worms, and various other invertebrates, AKA food.
We just took dirt and rocks that we found outside. Some plants, sticks, pine cones and moss help to make it feel a little more like home and a terra cotta pot split in two provides great hiding places. A butter dish level with the dirt rounds out our terrarium
Not a great picture but you can almost see the toad at home.
The other day, we took one of the toads and put it our mason critter jar. We took the toad outside, stretched out in the grass with the jar in front of us and just observed, using the Handbook of Nature Study to help us. It was great in leading us to different points of observation.
The first thing we found out was that our toad is a girl. According to the book, the males have black throats. We had been calling both of our toads "he" but they are both "she."
Toads do not give you warts. They will pee on you, but it is a defense and does not produce warts. The large bumps behind the eyes are their glands that secrete toxins that discourage enemies from eating them.
"The toad is colored so that it resembles the soil and thus often escapes the observation of its enemies...If a toad is removed from an earth or moss garden, and put into a white wash-bowl, in a few hours it will change to a lighter hue, and vice versa. This is part of its protective color, making it inconspicuous to the eyes of its enemy." Handbook of Nature Study
She was a little camera shy but still has her eye on me. Here, she is a darker hue, one that matches the dirt in her home. Towards the end of our observation, she had started to lighten up and her spots were more pronounced. One of the differences between toads and frogs is their skin. Toads have warts all over while frogs are smooth. She is not slimy or even wet feeling but is very bumpy.
"The toad is ajumper, as may be seen from its long, strong hind legs, the feet of which are also long and strong and are armed with five toes that are somewhat webbed. The 'arms' are shorter and there are four 'fingers' to each 'hand'; when the toad is resting, its front feet toe-in in a comical fashion." Handbook of Nature Study
Some interesting things that we observed with our toads:
- I never before thought about toads noses or ears and we found both. The nostrils flared.
- Toads do not drink water but will absorb moisture through their skin. We have observed one toad "drinking." She was looked like she was kicking back in a hot tub when she was sitting in the water dish one day. It made us both laugh.
- Toads shed their skin as they grow and eat it! Kind of gross.
- Toads are gluttonous. One had to spit back out a grasshopper that was too big for her.
- They do not have any teeth or rib bones.
We just love our toads. They are easy to take care of. Right now we catch different insects. Japanese beetles have found a great purpose at our house. We have also bought a few crickets at the pet store for 10 cents a piece. And toads hibernate in the winter.
Comments
Sunday, August 10, 2008 - Toad
Posted by Anonymous
Gorgeous photos!
Thanks for sharing.
Christie
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Mommaofmany
See how much more you know and how much more comfortable you are than last year? You've learned as much as Cameron! ID'ing caterpillars, collecting and caring for critters of all kinds...WOW! I'm so proud of you, in a mom-to-mom sort of way!
