The Toad

Common Toad

In common with – I suspect – most dogs, I go out into the back garden (or yard, for my American friends) last thing at night in order to do what a dog has to do before going to bed. Now, I realise that it’s not always the quickest of processes because it takes time to find exactly the right spot before the decorous lifting of one hind leg.

I must also admit to taking a little bit longer about it because I like to check all the boundaries, sniff under the fence and gate, and generally make sure that there are no cats hiding in the bushes. For about the last week, though, I’ve taken even longer due to the presence of toads.

Funny things, toads. They’re a funny colour and are therefore hard to see among the foliage – especially in the dark. Also, they tend to hop about, which makes them hard to keep track of. Now, a dog is blessed with an enhanced ability to sniff things out, and Border Terriers are pretty determined when it comes to catching things.

So it was with considerable satisfaction that I held the toad in my mouth and took it into the house to show Mum and Dad. To my equally considerable surprise and disappointment, when I dropped it onto the kitchen floor, they did not receive my gift with the unalloyed joy which I had been expecting.

Common Toad

I must admit that it was bigger than they might have wanted, very dark green in colour, and it wasn’t moving. Mum and Dad were bending over, staring at it. “It’s a frog,” said Dad, perceptive as usual, but getting it wrong because it was a toad. “It looks dead to me.”

Mum, being the less squeamish of the two, crouched down and prodded the creature dubiously with one finger. “I think it’s alive” was her conclusion. It still wasn’t moving much, though, which was a shame, as I had been hoping to chase it around the house. Mum gingerly picked up the toad, and put it outside on the grass, Dad declaring “If it’s still alive it’ll be gone in the morning.”

It turns out that at Mum and Dad’s previous house (before my time, when they had a black Border Terrier cross named Sooty), a family of frogs had moved into the greenhouse, and Sooty had never quite known what to do about them. He would just sit and stare at them, looking surprised when they jumped. My view is different – I like the thrill of the chase. Not so much of this sitting and staring. It it’s still, sniff at it. If it moves, chase it – as the local cats know. Apparently, Sooty used to bring hedgehogs into the house occasionally. Now that’s an idea, if I can find one.

Next morning, the toad was gone, so I assume it had hopped it. I keep looking for him, though.

Pictures from Wikipedia. Attributions:

“Bufo bufo”. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bufo_bufo.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Bufo_bufo.jpg

“Bufo bufo 2 (2005 07 11)” by Taka – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bufo_bufo_2_(2005_07_11).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Bufo_bufo_2_(2005_07_11).jpg