Toad

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Colin2016
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Found a toad, think it's a toad as it is yellow, in our front garden unders some flowers.

There is no pond nearby that I know off.

Feel sorry for it as it could be missing it's mates, anything I should do or just leave it alone?
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Geoff
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Frogs and toads live a solitary life in the undergrowth most of the time - ponds are for breeding.
PLUMPUDDING
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We used to have toads in the garden when I was small, but I've not seen one here for years. They were always dark coloured with nobbly skin. You can tell them from frogs because they walk and frogs usually hop. There are lots of frogs around here and at the moment and I have to sweep the lawn before I mow it to clear all the thumb nail sized baby frogs off.

Yours should be fine if it has somewhere moist and shady to go. Like Geoff says they only seek partners and water in the breeding season.
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Pawty
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I am often rescuing both frogs and toads from the cats - there are no ponds around us. They are remarkably resilient - and very clever when it comes to deceiving the cats ( I.e playing dead) . As said, as long as they have a shaded area they should be fine - and personally I think they are an indication of a really healthy environment.

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Colin2016
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Thanks for your replies...Could be a frog then as it hops.
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Ricard with an H
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Hello Colin.

I get a lot of yellow frogs, and I get dark brown types. Presumable because we have a pond within 200/300 yards it will be where they come from.

This time of year when the summer growth is being cut back I accidentally kill the odd one or two with the brush-cutter though I do try hard to give then ample warning by cutting very high first. Working down from the topmost growth with a brushcutter is always a good technique, it stops the tough stuff from wrapping itself around the cutter head and it gives any wildlife a chance to move out until the work is done.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
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Monika
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Yes, frogs come in all sorts of colours, are usually shiny and jump but toads, as somebody has already said, have a knobbly skin and crawl. We have taken to walk round the perimeter of our lawns before mowing or strimming, to get the little beasts to retract into the undergrowth because we have killed two or three frogs this year by running the mower over them. Always a horrible feeling!

When we had a thunderstorm the other night (quite a rare event here), the garden was 'awash' with frogs of all ages and also lots of newts making their way out of the pond into winter quarters. Our outside back doorstep has quite a gap behind it and we think that's where many of these amphibians spend the winter. Leaving the back door open one recent evening encouraged a small frog to hop into kitchen! I treated it like I would a large spider - put a glass over it, covered it up and took it outside.

On the allotment we have a pile of posts, planks etc and that's where the toads live away from their breeding time. We've also found toads quite deeply buried in the ground in winter and almost sliced them with the spade. At least it means we don't need to use slug killers.
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Primrose
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Now the weather is cooling off both frogs and toads will be going i to hibernation. Try to have some sheltered corners in your garden with some dry leaves , etc which are protected from the rain and wet where they can safely hibernate.
Elaine
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As Primrose says, it is coming up to hibernation time for frogs and toads. Last year, I found a couple buried in the soil, amongst the shrubbery in our back garden.
We have been digging the plot today and I unearthed three toads...fortunately unharmed.
Happy with my lot
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Primrose
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I hadn't actually realised that toads buried themselves in the earth, so hopefully a reminder to all of us to have some freshly dug earth in our gardens or allotment, especially in sheltered places. With the recent hot spell many soil surface areas will have become compacted, making it difficult for them to bury themselves adequately for protection when winter weather comes.
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Ricard with an H
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Beti is still a puppy at 14 months, frogs are very interesting to the point she will stop halfway through her morning evacuations to investigate. She doesn't harm them, just follows them with her nose. This time last year we worried that might eat frogs and slugs, we know she only stares at frogs but we have treated her for lungworms ever since she arrived. Pembrokeshire is a hot-spot for lungworms in dogs.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
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Colin2016
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Thank you all for the info on frogs & toads...I have to report the the frog has hopped it.
PLUMPUDDING
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When I was small every spring the toads would come out of hibernation under the ashes Dad put in the base of the cold frame. I used to watch as the ashes started moving and eventually the knobbly ash covered toads would appear. I was scared stiff of them because it was the same time that Quatermass was on T.V. which had alien things moving along underground. I once even panicked coming home from school because I thought they were following me :shock:
Colin2016
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I too remember Quatermass, I used to hide behind the chair at the scary bits.
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Primrose
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I was weeding in the garden yesterday and came across three tiny frogs, obviously this year's hatchings. Because they're so cute I spent some time watching them. What surprised me, and this may just be a coincidence was that all of them seemed to be hopping towards the general direction of my compost heaps.

Now I know frogs and toads are supposed to have some kind of homing instinct and return to the same pond to breed every year but could it be, now that hibernation time is getting close, these tiny creatures were instinctively making way to the same spot where their parents hibernated last year ?

One of my compost heaps is due for digging out and spreading this autumn. If this is the case I'll have to be doubly careful to try and avoid disturbing them. As they were barely larger a thumb nail, this is going to be pretty difficult, especially as they're almost impossible to spot when stationary.
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