Today I had two animal adventures without the kids. The first happened while filling up the kiddie pool for the kids, and the second while taking recycling out to the curb. Both involved Eastern American Toads.
Today was a hot one so I decided to fill up our little blow-up pool so the kids could go swimming. Since it was already in the upper 80’s I figured the water would get warm pretty quickly. Then I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. Once I looked up I saw a nice Toad walking across the middle of the lawn. Now toads are not rare in our part of Michigan, but I didn’t expect one to be walking across the lawn in the heat of the day.
I was holding my camera at the time, so I didn’t have to get close to look at her. She was clearly heading to our lilac bush. This translated to shade, so I just snapped some pictures as she went. She was trying to make it to the cool of the garden.
I was hoping at first it was a rarer Fowlers Toad. With the spots on the belly, and the postorbital ridge, I think it is a common American Toad. Either way, she was a beauty.
The kids loved the pictures. We talked about toads for awhile afterwards. Then to my surprise, as I was returning to the house after taking the recycling out to the curb I noticed some more movement out of the corner of my eye. This time it was a toad the size of my thumbnail. This little guy was hoofing it into the Hostas. I snapped a few photos with my cell phone, and considered trying to get one with me holding it, but I didn’t want to stress it out.
I just looked, and let him go. Like the large toad earlier in the day, it was exciting to see something unplanned. I hope they are enjoying their Toad Day’s of Summer as much as I am.
