Bring a tree toad to work day

PrincessFerf · #1 09/03/13, 10:22 AM

So this morning I was driving into work like any other day. I have an approx. 35 mile drive, all highway. When I got off the highway and was turning into the office park where I work, a tree toad from home climbed out of the engine area and onto the windshield!

I yelled "DUDE!" (as if he could hear me and understand what I was saying) I told him to hang on (which tree toads are pretty good at) while driving into my parking spot.

The landscapers where I work spray all sorts of nasty chemicals and there really isn't a decent water supply close enough to support a tree toad, so I had to bring him into the office.

He's sitting in a styrofoam cup at my desk with a makeshift lid (with lots of holes, too) and a little water in the bottom of the cup. He'll have to hang out until he can come back home with me after work where he'll be released back into my garden where he belongs.

I sure hope he's learned his lesson and sticks close to home! The city is no good for a Spring Peeper!

AngieM2 · #2 09/03/13, 10:30 AM

He just wanted to see the big world that he'd heard about from the other worldly peepers.

Homesteader · #3 09/03/13, 10:33 AM

Bless you!

unregistered358967 · #4 09/03/13, 10:37 AM

Kermit.

Harry Chickpea · #5 09/03/13, 10:45 AM

LOL! Great story, and I can relate to that calling out "Dude!" I sometimes wonder about the various bugs and spiders we unwittingly transport to town. I can imagine tiny voices going "What the heck? This isn't home! What is all that pavement stuff there for?"

KIT.S · #6 09/03/13, 12:10 PM

Yup. Amphibians turn up in the strangest places! My son, dil & gkids (6,7,9) were camping in Eastern Oregon high desert with no open water around. Youngest gson found a green tree frog in the water tank of the campground toilet. Wonder how it got there? And wonder what the kid was doing messing with the toilet tank... They took it with them to a lake and let it loose.
Kit

**Kris in MI** · #7 09/03/13, 12:29 PM

This summer I went over to my parents' house to pick cherries from their tree. After being there several hours, we got done picking and popped the trunk on the car to put the buckets of cherries in the trunk for the ride home. Sitting right where the top of the trunk overlaps the car body, just above the rubber seal on the rim of the trunk (hope you can picture it) was a tree frog. I'm not sure how long it had been there, as there are no trees near my parent's driveway where I was parked, and none near my house either. A few days earlier I had been up north, back in the woods, at my mil's cabin. I don't know if it could have been "in" the trunk that long (and a 200 mile drive home plus 20 miles to my parents' house) or not, but it got put in Mom's shadiest flower bed.

fishhead · #8 09/03/13, 12:55 PM

Yesterday one sat on my storm door handle all day even though I was in and out of the house a dozen or more times. I didn't think to check this morning but it may still be there.

PrincessFerf · #9 09/03/13, 01:02 PM

At home we have lots of ponds and other frog/toad-friendly habitat. Frogs and toads are some of my most favorite creatures on the planet and those who take up residence in my gardens get special treatment. I have several toad houses (although only spiders seem to take up residence), water features (with rocks stacked so they can crawl out) and plenty of habitat for them to enjoy (and hibernate during winter). I even have boards sloping into my window wells to help them crawl out in the event of a fall.

Spring Peepers can always be heard in early spring around us during their mating season. There's such a chorus going on that you can hardly hear yourself think! We have several who have been around our place (that I've seen) this summer which always makes me happy. We never have a shortage of food for them. (mosquitoes anyone?)

Anyway, this little dude doesn't belong around chem-lawns and blacktop. He's doing ok in his little cup for now and my co-workers find it amusing.

cathleenc · #10 09/03/13, 07:34 PM

I got extremely excited last night when the kids found a small toad - I promptly escorted it into the vegie garden and sat it down under a cabbage leave, wishing it a welcome home. Toads are the best!

Harry Chickpea · #11 09/03/13, 10:16 PM

Except Bufo toads. Had a few of those in Florida.

Mickey · #12 09/04/13, 12:29 AM

Harry,
What is a "Bufo" toad?

Harry Chickpea · #13 09/04/13, 01:01 AM

They are huge, toxic, and if a dog gets one the poison from them can kill the dog. Not sure if they are an exotic import or not.

HappyYooper · #14 09/04/13, 05:48 AM

Our granddaughter loves frogs, toads, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies..well..you know..Nature. Yesterday was the first day of school here & she found a little toad in the playground during recess. She brought it to a group of children (she's 6) to show them when a boy swatted it out of her hand and yelled "ewww! Toads give you warts!" Then stomped on it

BethW · #15 09/04/13, 08:33 PM

Harry, do you mean Bufo americanus?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_toad

Around here, they come in all sizes from fingernail-sized on up. Growing up, our dogs would sometimes get foamy spit from carrying one around, but no deaths occurred.

They're my favorite toad.

arcticow · #16 09/04/13, 09:02 PM

The ones Harry means are African imports, HUGE toads. Poison kills just about anything that eats one...

GrannyG · #17 09/04/13, 11:18 PM

He is toadly worth all your effort.....LOL

unregistered358967 · #18 09/05/13, 09:50 AM

He stomped on it? This would have really upset me as a kid (still does). Poor thing. I hope she wasn't too traumatized by it.

hippygirl · #19 09/05/13, 10:12 AM

I drove up to the Staples in Auburn one afternoon...went inside, got what I needed, came out, and noticed some people were taking pics around my truck with their phones. I cautiously walked up and was about to ask what was SO interesting about my truck when I saw one of my hens scurrying around on the pavement! She hitched a ride SOMEWHERE underneath my truck all the way to Auburn, 30+ miles away.

Not one of those gawkers even OFFERED to help me catch her, either! What they COULD do was laugh, take pics, text, and call their buddies to tell them about the rube in the old truck who'd brought her "pet chicken" to town.

WHAT A FUN DAY!

HappyYooper · #20 09/05/13, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Less-is-more

He stomped on it? This would have really upset me as a kid (still does). Poor thing. I hope she wasn't too traumatized by it.

It upset me too

She was upset but let it go until she got home and told mom...