She's one of the reasons I know our ecosystem is working.
Meet the toad who made her home in one of my old flowerpots last summer. Every morning, she peered out at me working in the garden from her drainage hole window. She’d wait till I watered the shrubs, then she’d lumber into them in order to cool down. I named her Mrs. Toad because we spotted 3 baby toads in the garden that summer. Since they don’t easily reproduce in suburban areas, and since she was about 4 inches long, I imagined she was the mother of all toads.
The reason she made me so happy is because a single toad can eat up to 10,000 insects over the course of a summer. Their diet consists of all sorts of bugs, snails, flies and caterpillars.
It’s estimated that 88% of their prey is considered an agricultural pest, which means this beautiful amphibian is a natural pest control for my garden.
To create a hangout for these garden must-haves, you need to eliminate pesticides. Amphibians have porous skin that absorbs chemicals easily. The less chemicals in your yard, the more likely you are to have the right ecosystem that encourages toads to move in. You also need to provide shelter in the form of shady shrubs, piles of dead leaves, or old pots. The key is moisture and areas for burrowing. While they reproduce in shallow water, they don’t live in it.
So, take a look at your yard and imagine, if you were a toad, are there attractive areas for burrowing? Is there a cornucopia of insects? Will it be a nice place to raise a family?
Apparently, my garden got a sticky thumbs up, which makes me very happy. What my friend Mrs. Toad reminds me is that as with any of the critters in my garden, life is more interesting and pleasant when it is harmonious for all.
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