too many amorous toads ....!

11 years ago

Have had a huge toad for several years(don't know how it got in as our yard is enclosed with a concrete block wall!)& last year was joined by two smaller ones. One night it was joined by the two others & what a racket by the pond every night until one day I saw 'jillions' of teeny black toad eggs in the pond water! Soon little polywogs appeared but I never saw if any developed further or where they went as all of a sudden they were gone. This year those three came back but it took almost a month of their nightly amorous racket (they respond to our dogs barking too!) until today I see the pond loaded with teeny black babies in the water. I thought perhaps the rather large goldfish would eat some of them but still.... what am I to do if all of these grow into adults?!! Oddly, our four dogs don't seem to pay attention to the toads even when I

put one in my hand (they show no fear of me!) & show it to them ... do toads have some unpleasant aroma that dogs don't like! The toads often dive to the pond bottom (I didn't know they liked water like frogs!)& scare the heck out of the poor goldies & stir up the bottom sediment!During the day they submurge their bodies & rest their heads on the lily pads!

Have no idea where they over-winter in our yard either ... am afraid they go in the garden & in the Spring I may dig one of them up! What can I do with them all?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

frankielynnsie
11 years ago
I have scads of tiny toadies at this moment. They are prolific and when you walk around the pond they scatter away from your feet. I don't know how many survive but they spread out into the yard and garden. I find them when they get bigger sitting under the patio lights eating bugs that have beat their brains out on the lights.
0
groundbeef
11 years ago
Toads have two 'pads' on the back of their heads just behind their eye's. These pads emit a white milky substance that is quite unpleasant for animals to taste. That's why your dogs don't show much interest in them. They probably have picked one up before and remember how awful it was.

Also toad tadpoles are also not very yummy, and that is why the goldfish leave them alone.

It's a survival mechanism.
0
Related Discussions
How many bull frogs are too many???
Q
Comments (23)
By its own admission it appears that 'dirtslinger' has done exactly what it accused me of doing,__ introducing non native species. (http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ponds/msg0322262730946.html) posted March 30, 2009 In reply of Mar 31, 09 at 11:03 it states: "These are not turtles found in this area- I really doubt in the wild they hibernate for 6+ months." Then take a look at thisabout the 'Red-eared slider' from Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider) "It is a native of the southern United States, but has become common in various areas of the world due to the pet trade." And in the paragraph 'U.S. State Law': "Some states have other laws and regulations regarding possession of red-eared slider because they can be an invasive species_______". And as far as "Please stop spreading bullfrogs around!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfrog "The American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), often simply known as the Bullfrog in the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or "true frogs", native to much of North America."
...See More
That's Amore
Q
Comments (17)
I like to make the Mallorcan version of pizza without cheese, called "Coca de Verduras", or vegetable tart. They are sold in nearly every bakery and are often eaten out of hand while standing up in the bakery, as a breakfast on the way to work, or as an afternoon snack on the way home or after school. They are usually eaten at room temperature and make wonderful side dishes for a cold summer buffet, picnic or evening snack. There are many variations of coca and in winter the peppers may be substituted by Swiss chard or spinach and without tomatoes. Here is one recipe which is also know as 'Coca de Trempó'. Often the red peppers are skinned and in strips, and accompanied on top of the coca by artichoke hearts, olives and anchovies. This would be called 'Coca Amb Pebres', where 'pebres' are the red peppers in the Mallorquin dialect. Or made in a loose bottom pan topped with tomato, veg, olives & tuna: Vegetable Tart - Coca de Verduras (From the Island of Mallorca) Ingredients for 4 people: 4 cups (500 grams) all purpose flour 1 oz (25 grams fresh yeast or 1 pkg dry yeast 4 TBS olive oil 1/4 cup (2 oz or 50 grams) lard 3 medium Italian sweet green peppers or green bell peppers cut in small pieces 3 spring onions - cut in small pieces including all the stalk 3 ripe medium sized tomatoes- sliced finely 1 clove of garlic - sliced finely 1 handful of Italian flatleaf parsley, chopped 1 TBS of sweet red paprika salt water - 1 cup lukewarm 1) Turn on the oven and set temperature at 375 F (191 C) 2) Put the warm water in a mixing bowl (preferrable one of porcelain or terracotta) and dissolve the yeast in it. 3) Add the lard and the olive oil. Add the flour gradually, mixing in by hand until the mixture leaves the side of the bowl. 4) Form a ball and let it rest for a few minutes while you prepare the vegetables. 5) Chop and slice vegetables into a large bowl, add the paprika and some salt and mix all together. 6) Lightly oil either a round pan of about 13" diameter (32 Cm) or a rectangular pan 13" x 11" (32 Cm x 27 Cm) both with a depth of approx 1/2 inch (1 cm). A cookie sheet or oven tray would be ideal. 7) Place dough in centre and carefully stretch it out with palms of hands, patting to fit pan, keeping an even thickness. It should be thin. 8) Arrange vegetables evenly on top of the dough, drizzling at the same time with olive oil and salt. 9) Put coca into oven for about 1 hour or until crust is lightly golden and vegetables are cooked. After taking it out of the oven, drizzle a little more olive oil on top. 10) You can eat this hot or cold. In winter the vegetables may be swiss chard or spinach, substituting the peppers, but also used raw and finely chopped. Source: translated from "Cocina Balear" Ana Maria Calera Editorial Everest - Leon (España) SharonCb
...See More
How many pets do you have? How many is 'too many'?
Q
Comments (102)
i lost my senior great dane girl 5 weeks ago to bone cancer. it was sudden and shocking and i still look for her. my remaining dane girl and eden were joined at the hip, pip took the loss very hard and had been grieving so much, it broke my heart. i contacted pip's breeder and one of her former co-owners and asked that they keep an eye out for any adults that any breeder friends might be considering a new home for (retired show dogs, etc.). the co-owner gave me the contact information for one of her people who had a dane boy she had been looking for just the right home for and the rest is history. meet "flighty foto my way", call name "frank". frank will be 4 years old on 5/31. he is a very sweet boy and he and pippin hit it off immediately at our meet 'n' greet friday. they do zoomies numerous times a day, sleep curled up together and are just a perfect pair. pippin is so much happier and that makes me happier. even though i miss eden terribly, i am beginning to heal now that pip is feeling better. frank is a bit on the thin side because he lived the last 4 weeks with a female dane who was going through a heat cycle and when that's going on, intact males ignore food, do a lot of pacing and fretting and routinely lose weight. he's eating like a horse so i'm confident he will gain and be back to his normal weight soon. i'm giving him a few weeks to settle in and then i'll make an appointment to have him neutered.
...See More
Grande Amore at Home Depot
Q
Comments (3)
Thanks. I'm having great luck with Kordes roses and I feel they are poorly represented here, meaning I think people in south Florida think that roses cannot grow here, but very few have given Kordes a try. I'm very pleased that they've been showing up locally because I'm sick and tired of the same ol same ol that I know won't do well here: old HTs like Mr. Lincoln, queen Elizabeth, pascali, Fragrant Cloud. None of these will survive here (even on fortuniana). What we need here are healthy roses. Many Kordes do well and until recently they were nowhere to be found. Wedding bells, Beverly, earth angel, plum perfect, tupelo honey, Larissa, Poseidon, brilliant veranda, cream veranda, roxy vigorosa, Red riding hood FT, and Bordeaux are each surpassing all but few of my other roses. Florentina is another drop dead beautiful one. Why growers keep dishing out the same, lame roses that never survive, when they could be selling roses that would actually do well, upsets me! I'm %100 sure it's because they sell! Regardless of survival, people see the pretty, perfect (greenhouse grown) roses and they take them home thinking they will have great success. When these weak, old fashioned roses die with no spraying or constant care, people dismiss roses all together. This is nothing but disastrous for the rose industry. Then they wonder why noone rose gardens. when 90% of your distribution is badly performing, why would you have any return costomers? They are exchanging the quick buck for a solid, growing market and its destined to decline, slowly but surley. Its quite frustrating.
...See More
nancyd
11 years ago
vieja: Don't worry. When we first installed our pond 6 years ago, toads appeared. I knew they were in the garden but never thought twice about how they reproduced. (Actually, I'm still amazed how fast our first frog showed up!) When I first saw two locked together, I thought how cute. I assumed one was a baby and the mom was giving it a ride on its back. I later discovered the larger toads are the females and the males sit on the back of the female while they are making sweet love. ;o) They only mate in the water - after that they return to land. If you caught it early enough you would see what looks like a long, clear piece of plastic tape that has eggs attached to it. If you find that, you can grab it out of your pond and limit the amount of polywogs (toadpoles?!). But don't be alarmed. We freaked out with our first experience with toads. Our pond was FULL and I mean full of eggs. It looked like we had splattered paint on every rock - we must have had thousands. The fish ate many of them. Others got into the yard and disappeared. I think birds got some. The lawnmower got more. We maybe had a dozen or so adults come back the next year. You won't get hundreds of toads. Toads are great for insect control so it's not a bad thing to have some toads around. The noise I can live without. They sound like a sci-fi movie when they get to screaming. That's called "trilling." From what I read, when they trill it means the males are calling to the females or they are claiming their turf. I can't seem to find a definite answer on why they trill during mating season. The babies are fun to watch. They are very, very small at first. I think it's a piece of dirt until it starts hopping away! My dog is also curious about the ones that he finds on the patio at night, but that's about all. They just basically stare at each other.
0
monet_g
11 years ago
The weather here has been so odd this spring that I thought the window had closed on toad mating. Last week the reunion began with many showing up and trilling. Mine react to an overhead plane, weed-wacker and anything that has a pulsing sound by trilling as if to invite the alleged friend to the party. One day they were gone, but I had ropes of eggs on everything they could find - plants and even a cord. A few days later the ropes were gone and now I have thousands of tadpoles in the pond.

In a few weeks they'll emerge as what I call toadlets. (One year I thought it was hundreds of crickets at my feet.) You'll see them in the garden for a while and then they'll slowly disappear - many, probably, into the food chain.

The drier it is the less you'll see them. They'll find some moist and warm leaf litter to snuggle into.

I'm pleased to have toads. They eat slugs!
0
buyorsell888
11 years ago
They will disperse into the landscape. Many won't make it. You won't be overrun with them. Amphibians in general are in trouble and they need our help with places to safely breed.
0

too many amorous toads ....!

Comments (5)

frankielynnsie

groundbeef

Related Discussions

nancyd

monet_g

buyorsell888

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US