Tuesday, July 21, 2009
NO TOADS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS POST
I live where it doesn't rain all that much, but it does rain a lot when it does rain. (The preceding sentence was deliberately left obtuse.)
What I'm saying is that we had a really great thunderstorm last evening. It thrashed the trees, sent sheets of water blowing down the street, left all sorts of crap in my swimming pool, and, most importantly, gave us a good dose of water for free.
We have toads in the yard. Mostly they hunker down in moist spots and look at me sideways when I notice them. Sometimes I see them hopping around the edges of the house, which is where the bushes are that get watered. With water on the bushes comes a place for a toad.
Toads apparently aren't all that bright. We've had a series of storms this week, although mostly they didn't provide any significant rain. When the storm winds pick up all sorts of trash gets dumped into the swimming pools in the area. Trash from places you've never visited in your life winds up in your skimmer. Then, the past couple of days, so did the toads.
I found my first swimming toad yesterday morning. They swim really well, just like frogs (there's a surprise, huh?) What they can't do, of course, is hop up eight inches out of the water to get out of the pool. Some pools have ramps leading in and out. Ours has steps. Several sets, but every top step is firmly under water. The toads are, sad to say, screwed.
Today I found a toad swimming in the skimmer when I went to clean the debris out. I flipped him into the garden. Then I saw another one along the edge of the pool, so I flipped him out. Then I saw yet another one, this one looking sort of tired. I flipped him out. Then I went and emptied the debris basket at the pump (if you have a pool you know what I mean.) When I returned I noticed a fourth toad valiantly kicking himself along the edge.
Now, really, I don't mind toads. They eat bugs, after all. But I wish they'd stay out of my pool. Like I want to go for a dip at bedtime (which I sometimes do) and end up with a dead amphibian next to me in the water. Or maybe I'll pull a dead toad out of the skimmer basket. I mean, come on, guys, I don't call the exterminator, now do I? Have some courtesy, okay? Sit under the bushes in the dampness and enjoy life. Eat all the bugs you can catch. Just, please Mr. and Ms. Toad, resist that urge to go for a swim. Leave that to the frogs. I mean, humans.
Thank you,
Steve
What I'm saying is that we had a really great thunderstorm last evening. It thrashed the trees, sent sheets of water blowing down the street, left all sorts of crap in my swimming pool, and, most importantly, gave us a good dose of water for free.
We have toads in the yard. Mostly they hunker down in moist spots and look at me sideways when I notice them. Sometimes I see them hopping around the edges of the house, which is where the bushes are that get watered. With water on the bushes comes a place for a toad.
Toads apparently aren't all that bright. We've had a series of storms this week, although mostly they didn't provide any significant rain. When the storm winds pick up all sorts of trash gets dumped into the swimming pools in the area. Trash from places you've never visited in your life winds up in your skimmer. Then, the past couple of days, so did the toads.
I found my first swimming toad yesterday morning. They swim really well, just like frogs (there's a surprise, huh?) What they can't do, of course, is hop up eight inches out of the water to get out of the pool. Some pools have ramps leading in and out. Ours has steps. Several sets, but every top step is firmly under water. The toads are, sad to say, screwed.
Today I found a toad swimming in the skimmer when I went to clean the debris out. I flipped him into the garden. Then I saw another one along the edge of the pool, so I flipped him out. Then I saw yet another one, this one looking sort of tired. I flipped him out. Then I went and emptied the debris basket at the pump (if you have a pool you know what I mean.) When I returned I noticed a fourth toad valiantly kicking himself along the edge.
Now, really, I don't mind toads. They eat bugs, after all. But I wish they'd stay out of my pool. Like I want to go for a dip at bedtime (which I sometimes do) and end up with a dead amphibian next to me in the water. Or maybe I'll pull a dead toad out of the skimmer basket. I mean, come on, guys, I don't call the exterminator, now do I? Have some courtesy, okay? Sit under the bushes in the dampness and enjoy life. Eat all the bugs you can catch. Just, please Mr. and Ms. Toad, resist that urge to go for a swim. Leave that to the frogs. I mean, humans.
Thank you,
Steve
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