It was pouring the rain when we drove home Friday evening and the Kritter Keeper tradition during rainy nights is to harp on the good husband to slow down while driving down the lane. For a half a mile, the patient man tries his best to heed the firm warnings, hearing over and over... "Oh there is one! Watch the puddle! Slow down, what's your rush?" etc. We always see numerous dead toads and frogs on the dark highway, at least we can avoid killing these poor little creatures on our own land, right?
Several years ago before the house was finished, I was blessed to see and hear the one and only Toadfest held on the farm. The frogs were singing in the middle of an April sunny day which I thought was highly unusual! I remember that Mom and Dad were visiting. I took my camera and was astonished at what I saw....a city of toads! Some were in the water, some were sunbathing, and MOST were, well, I think you get the drift after seeing my pics. Little ones on big ones, some with blue bubbles blowing from their necks ( I am sure there is a technical term for that body part, but what the heck....) and couples chatting it up while others sang joyfully. Dad said they were oblivious to my presence as they were in such a breeding frenzy. After the bad husband widened the pond and cleared the edges, there was never a Toadfest celebrated again and anytime I get near the water's edge, one can hear the "plop plop" of frightened frogs or toads escaping the tall two legged monster.
I was shocked to see Toad love again in early April of this year when Red showed herself one very late evening. She and a friend decided that underneath the bright light near the end doors would be the perfect place and did not mind my intrusions. For over a year now she has taken residence in and around barn and wintered between the hay stacks and outside wall. One warm January day she ventured out but was very slow to move around and react so I found a dead bug for her to munch on, put them both bug back in her winter resting place and tucked her in with lots of hay. I know, I know....some would think I am crazy, but my name is not Kritter Keeper for nothing! :-)
The rain held steady as I walked down to the barn to feed. A large toad waited and watched near the garden wall close to the steps while another was in the middle of the driveway...huh? Didn't we just drive up only seconds ago? I bent over to be sure it wasn't injured and this is what I saw.
My heart sank, my mind exploded with questions as I studied this poor mother toad watching her dead baby that only minutes ago was learning how to wait for a tasty bug. The bad husband ran over the baby of course unbeknownst to him but it still left me with a deep sadness. I have never seen this before. The mother refused to move and I reached out to pet her and she did nothing. Toads always move a little if you pet them, an eye might move, the body will adjust to the strange feeling, etc. Nothing...she did nothing. I quickly left hoping she would be okay after I returned from the night feeding. She was still there after 20 minutes or so. I touched the baby to see if it was still living but how could it, with the entrails completely displayed? The little tiny hand beside its mother's was so heart wrenching! I picked them up and put them both in the wet grass out of harm's way. She didn't need to deal with curious dogs and probably wouldn't move out of the way had a large paw accidentally find her brown body.
A toad may be small and insignificant to some but on Earth Day and every day for me, all creatures great and small are equally important. I found this poem and thought it would be an excellent read to celebrate Earth Day.
Song of All Mother...
I am the Mother Earth and you are a child to me.
Discover who you are and seek divinity
Rocks and stones, clay and peat - all strats are a part of me.
Jewels and crystals, gems and gold are hidden in the heart of me.
Herbs and flowers, trees and shrubs, these are growing green on me.
Mosses, fungi, lichens, vines, all of these are seen on me.
Horses, cattle, pigs and deer, bears and lions roam on me.
Snakes and spiders, rats and slugs, all creatures have their home on me.
Bubbling brooks and silent springs, living rivers flow on me.
Pools and puddles, lakes and seas, salty oceans grow on me.
Tiny tiddlers, mighty whales, sacred salmon leap for me.
Sharks and squid and crabs and krill fill the waters deep for me.
Wrens and larks and crows and terns fill my skies with darting flight.
Hawks and eagles, bats and owls catch their prey by day and night.
Creeping worms and flying fox, teeming ants fulfill theirs lives,
In tune with me, in Nature's Way, as honey bees enrich my hives.
Only humans rob their kin, despoil the land, pollute the seas,
Kill for fun, destroy the woods, float poisoned vapors on the breeze.
I shall live for I can heal, even if you humans die,
But you can learn, as children should, to grow in peace
Beneath the sky....
Marion Green
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