Town Toads

Another great day weather wise in the Midwest. Rain’s moving in, but today was a day to enjoy the outdoors. It was another work day for part of the day, getting out more lawn furniture, getting the pump in the bird bath started, and cleaning up after the squirrels. Those rascals are fun to watch, but I fear our squirrel population may have been marrying their cousins too often or something. I look up elsewhere and see magnificently built squirrel homes high up in the trees. They appear to be almost mansion like. Our squirrels for the third year in a row have selected the most unlikely place to build. One can almost reach the nest in the lowest fork in the tree. They use very few leaves and believe me, we have leaves available — dried, green, oak, maple, large and small. Instead, they just use sticks and they fall in great quantities upon the ground below. They are adept at chewing off all lengths and sizes, but they just don’t know how to make them stay in the nest, so they just end up with a very unstable group of sticks that provide very little in the way of warmth or security for themselves and the young that will be coming along. In addition, as they race through the trees they continually knock down additional dead limbs that are still there from our December ice storm. That’s a good thing, I think, but one never finishes with the darn things. The squirrels with their barking and chattering are welcome and provide entertainment. I’m afraid however, that they are deficient in squirrel skills. Is there a government program available for them?

Then there are the birds. For whatever reason, we have three bird baths in the back yard. The birds fend for themselves food-wise, either from nature or from neighbors who have bird feeders. We provide the water. The turtle (mourning) doves pretty much control one, the robins and any other timid birds use the second, and the third with the running water is a free for all for the strong and the brave. Here, the blackbirds dominate, but any lack of vigilance on the part of the guard birds, and the blue jays, brave robins and Cardinals move in for their turn. The little guys, the finches, and others seem to be tolerated by all of the bigger, more aggressive birds as long as they use their own shallow area of the bird bath. The only unpleasantness of all this, is the three or four week period when the blackbirds for reasons of their own deposit great white droppings into the water. They carry it in their beaks, and sort of dive bomb the bird bath with direct hits. I dutifully clean it from the water daily for the three to four week period and then it’s all over. Other than that, the blackbirds “gotta” be the cleanest birds in town. They bathe and bathe. Anyway, this along with the bird songs and chatter makes for interesting observation while relaxing in the screened patio. We don’t have the exotic birds seen at our son’s home in Southwest Florida, and we miss the mockingbirds at daughter Julie’s house in Texas, so we’ll just continue to enjoy the ones we have and hope the neighborhood cats will allow us that privilege.

Today, being the second warm day in a row, was the signal for the town toads to start their search for a mate and a place to deposit their eggs. The only difference between a town toad and a country toad is — you guessed it, the town toads live in town and look for and find the fish ponds and water gardens, and the country toads find a creek and are all set. Bless them, the town toads were in full throat today, singing their little hearts out, and their blend of voices was a sound to behold. Previously, when we maintained fish ponds and water gardens in the back yard, that sound struck fear in our hearts, and we raced to prepare for their arrival and hopefully a successful capture of the toads before they had a chance to deposit their eggs in the water, which was an awful mess to clean up and would result eventually in so many toads that they would likely take over the entire premises. We had our nets, flashlights, and buckets ready and at the right time we captured our prey. We then made a daily trip during the mating and egg laying season to the creek in the park about a mile away to deliver the toads to what we perceived as their natural home. But these were town toads. Often we wondered if the same toads were returning and how many times did we deliver them back to the park? A few years ago we eliminated the fish pond and water gardens because of advanced age and a desire to decrease the work load. So today, the song of the town toads are just that, a song to enjoy and be reminded that winter is over.