Blechy!

The title is inspired by a friend who had a toad almost jump on her when she was helping my wife move something. She did some hopping herself and exclaimed, "Toads are blechy!"

I noticed this little toad in our pond a day or two ago. Last summer we didn’t have any toads visit the pond. I’m glad to see one back this year. It is probably a Bufo americanus, the common American toad. We’ve heard no calls the past couple of nights, so I’m assuming it’s a female.

A couple of years ago, we had a toad take up a two year (or maybe three, I can’t remember) residence. He's pictured in our profile...a rather similar shot actually. He was a male and boy did he have a loud call. Let’s hope this new resident is a quiet neighbor.

Learn more about the American toad here.

The Goldfish Pond

We might as well start with a view of our pond. It’s my favorite feature and provides a water source for the wildlife that visit our backyard. It came with the house and we liked it, so when the old rubber went south, we relined it and kept it. It’s less work than you might think.

We have a “scarecrow” motion sensor in place because a year or two after we bought the house, most of our fish were poached by an egret. It’s strange seeing a 2-foot tall bird landing in your backyard and looking lustily at your goldfish, but they are more prevalent than most people think.

The sad part is that the scarecrow also goes off when the squirrels come to drink, but that’s the price we pay for fish safety. Actually, we turn the scarecrow off from time to time, but since the study window is right there, and we’re always in there working, the fish are relatively safe and “Agnes” (the name we give all squirrels by default) can get her drink on.

If you're interested in learning more about backyard ponds, here is a tip sheet from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.