Toads - Eating Machines

   

  Every day when I head down the hill to my garden, my dog, Maggie, bolts down the path and runs around the enclosed garden, chews sticks, dances with the butterflies, and chases anything I throw over the fence (weeds, mushrooms, twigs).  She’s great company while I garden. 

     Yesterday, I discovered that I have a new companion in the garden.  I was planting a row of carrots, trying hard to control the small seeds dropping too quickly from my hands, when I saw movement through my peripheral vision.  I looked at a pile of leaves and almost missed the toad completely; his camouflage was so effective.  This morning I discovered him among the squash plants.  His appetite for slugs, flies, grubs, and cutworms is welcome in my garden.   

     Rodale’s Encyclopedia states, “One toad will eat 10,000 to 20,000 insects a year (that’s 50 – 100 every night from spring until fall hibernation).” 

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     If you’d like to invite a toad to make its home in your garden, there are a plethora of commercial toad houses you can purchase. 

Or you can build your own.

      With my new companion, the feeling of connection to the natural world I’ve always felt while in my garden has just intensified.