The saying, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" is appropriate here. Give 'em a try. It will be an interesting experiment, especially if they aren't totally shriveled or rotten. Let us know.

I love a good revived thread. :-) My good deals are all from eBay this time. My desktop computer is not quite four years old, but since it gets a lot of use and we believe in "lifecycling" electronics I've been casually looking for a good deal on a somewhat high-end refurbished PC to replace it. Before I found anything, my computer quit. Just refused to turn on. I researched possible causes, and called in my expert: my son. The power supply was a common source of the problem, so I bought one on eBay for $20. Nope, that didn't do it, but we kept the replacement in the computer and held onto the old one as a spare. Next we replaced the motherboard ($70 on eBay). Yes! The computer works fine at this point, but we figured since the hard drive has been spinning all these years, why not replace it--or add another, which is what we did--rather than wait for it to fail? So I bought a 1TB SSD drive on Amazon ($100), and now have a "new computer" for under $200. Also, I've been wanting an L.L. Bean tan canvas "barn jacket" for a long time but was unwilling to pay over $100 for it. Even eBay prices on them aren't usually tempting, but this time I found one for under $20 including shipping. I love it! It really is "like new," and I look forward to wearing it when spring starts to make an appearance. All I need now are olive green "wellies" for our muddy season.

Thank you all so much for your quick responses! After seeing some of your responses, we are now trying to get a structural engineer out here for an inspection. We also have a plumber that deals with foundations coming out tomorrow. We are not in an area with sink holes, but at the moment it feels like half of our house is in one! We live near Austin, Texas where the ground here is clay with tons of rocks. Our neighborhood is known for being difficult to dig into without digging up big rocks. I'm hopeful the insurance company will cover this! They are not saying much, just waiting for a detailed estimate to let me know what if anything will be covered.

I imagine lack of water could be an issue. Our neighbors' pond is hundreds of yards away, no other permanent water anywhere close, or even seasonal water. What a thing it is to perch on a rock shelf, as our house and its immediate surroundings do. I hope this toad is a positive indicator of the state of health of my garden. It certainly helps in pest control. It's six a.m. Time to get out and work, not while it's cool, but before it gets really hot.