Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Wanted: Toad Shepherd

Today I had to remove three mini-toads from the house. I have been putting the new Arivaca phone book to good use in this cause. I open it up and sweep the toads onto it using a paint brush. I then transport the toads outside. The toads have been showing up in the kitchen, in the living room and even in the shower. I think they sneak in every time I open the kitchen door. There are probably dozens of toads in the house I have not yet discovered and evicted.

2 comments:

KRISTIN said...

How can toads live in desert anyway?? Ours live in swamps, by rivers, any humid place. But it must be hot and dry in arivaca, right?

J. Otto Pohl said...

During the late summer we get monsoons which create creeks, ponds and other bodies of water. The toads spawn in this water. Arivca is a Pima Indian word that means marshy or reedy land because it collects so much monsoon rain. On the ranch we had a huge pond and several large creeks form during the monsoons. The creeks have completely dried up and the pond is rapidly evaporating. So the toads will go into hibernation soon. Prehaps Chris knows more about the life cycle of desert toads?