Toad hunting in the back yard pond

Toad hunting in my backyard proved to be easier than I imagined.

Our pond has become the nightly gathering place for a quartet of toads. We just purchased a beautiful water lily from Aquatic Gardens on Elysian Fields Avenue.  Little did we know that it would provide a perfect perch for a concert. Rather than a soothing nature concert, we have been awakened by loud bursts of  boasting and bravado.

Keali'i Reichel's lovely " Toad Song," was not what we were entertained with. The four toads seemed to be engaged in a competition of sorts.  The rules of engagement must have been established by the same fools who jack-up their car speaker systems! Who could croak the loudest, and at the same time were the rules that we gleaned. It was like listening to some of these talk shows where no one is listening, and everyone is croaking louder and louder to be heard.

O.K.. I hatched a plan and used  all of the lesson that I learned from the hunters in Houma, LA, where I lived for 20 years. They go frog gigging at night with a flashlight attached to a helmet. I did not have the proper gear, but I do own a flash light.  

It almost seemed too easy. The light paralyzed the frog, and I just scooped them up. The first night, I simply walked to the front yard and relocated them. It took four trips from the backyard through the side gate and out of the front gate. This exercise took about 20 minutes.

The second night, I gathered each individual up, went through the side gate, and out of the front gate, and I deposited the group down the street.

The third night, I took two of them for a ride-near midnight- to Audubon Park, 2.5 miles from our yard!  When I returned home, the other two had commenced the competition.  I captured these additional stragglers and released them the next morning two blocks away.

Last night... one lone toad was croaking... He is in a plastic Chinese take-out container in the front yard ready to be released in City Park when I go to my docent meeting.  Bon voyage Mr. Toad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSbPC3Ngh5A