Tag Archives: toads

Attracting Toads to Your Yard

Posted on by

When thinking about wildlife you’d like to welcome to your yard, you might not be thinking about toads. But here’s one very good reason to make things toad-friendly: just one toad can eat more than a hundred beetles, slugs, moths, and other bugs per day. That adds up to more than three thousand insects per month! It’s hard to beat a toad for natural pest control. Unless you’re very vigilant, you won’t see much of your toad friends during the day. Toads are most active at night, hunting slugs and cutworms. During the day, toads need a dark, cool place … Continue reading →

International Year of the Frog

Just in time for Leap Year! (Har har.) 2008 has been declared the International Year of the Frog. The idea is to address the problem of amphibian extinction — including frogs, toads, and salamanders. Zoos, aquarium, government agencies, and volunteers are making 2008 a year of a major public education effort. The bad news for frogs, toads, and salamanders: Nearly one third of all known species of amphibian are in serious decline. There are approximately six thousand known species — that means about two thousand species are in trouble. Within the next five years, we could lose nearly five hundred … Continue reading →

The Freaks Come Out at Night

Murph gets at least two round-the-block walks a day. Once in the morning and once in the early evening. We rarely take him on longer walks through the neighborhood after dark. (During Daylight Savings Time, that is. Once we fall back and it gets dark by five we don’t have much choice.) For now, however, while there’s still light in the sky come his six o’clock walk, we’re only out past dark when we take him up the cul-de-sac for a last pee-pee of the night walk. Most times. Sometimes we walk a little farther than normal, or Murph dawdles … Continue reading →

Pet First Aid: Toad Poisoning

There is a strange fascination many young dogs have with toads. When dog meets toad, the dog will often try to pick up the toad in his mouth. Why is this bad? All toads secrete mucus through their skin; the mucus can irritate the dog’s mouth and cause some serious drooling. Most toads are harmless. When is this really bad? When your dog encounters a poisonous toad. There are two types of poisonous toad seen in the United States: the Colorado River toad and the marine toad. Colorado River toads are found in the southwestern United States from the Pecos … Continue reading →