By: Bentley

Bentley — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 03:19:57 +0000

Wow Carol – that sounds like quite the experience! I can’t imagine finding a toad via touch (creepy – lol)!
I had originally wanted to just re-bury our toad friend as well. I suspect the cold soil (and cold temps in general) would make them want to stay put and shift back into hibernation mode again. Hope so anyway!
🙂
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John – yeah I used to do that with my Worm Inns as well. Probably a good time to do the same thing with the UWB. The little towel sitting on the floor is not the best strategy. lol

By: John W

John W — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 02:52:16 +0000

I keep a small Rubbermaid with shredded cardboard under my Worm Inn. I don’t get too much dripping, but it seems like a nice way to collect the runoff and then I just dump that on top of the bin.

By: Carol K.

Carol K. — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 23:35:40 +0000

Haha! Bentley – I can commiserate with you in a way. Winter before last I did not realize until mid-January that a toad had buried himself in a 12″ potted pelargonium that I’d had outside all the previous summer. Had no clue when I brought it in late in October that the pot was his chosen digs (literally!) for the winter!
It wasn’t until the plant seemed to be wilting that I stuck my finger into the pot to see if it needed watering or what, and, with a sudden queasy feeling realized my finger was touching, not soil, but a hole – at the bottom of which was something that was soft & rather mushy-feeling.
It took a certain amount of pluck to scrabble down in there – gently – and found legs! I dug my fingers down under Mr. (?) Toad, fished him out, then immediately wondered what to do with him since, like you, I didn’t want to put him outside in the bitter cold when he’d been used to at least a balmy 55 degrees on my windowsill.
My next thought was to wonder what he had been living on since it really was not anywhere near cold enough for him to be in full hibernation, so I figured there must have been some worms or something in the soil for him to eat. Flummoxed, all I could think to do was water the plant & tuck him back in – after bringing up a few sacrificial worms from the basement bin to add atop the hole! (So sorry, guys!)
Well, this was fine for another week or so – until he hopped along the windowsill one sunny morning as I was eating breakfast! Luckily, we were in the midst of a spring thaw, with the weather supposed to remain mild for several days, so I went out & dug a shallow hole in the herb bed on the south side of the red brick wall of our house and tucked him down in there, covering him with chopped leaves. I have no idea how he fared the rest of the winter, but I hadn’t wanted to have to feed him more of my guys from the bin, so I hope Mother Nature took care of one of her own.

Comments on: [UWB – Day 36] – Sorry Mr. Toad!

By: Bentley

By: John W

By: Carol K.