Toad house in a raised bed?

[lowlylowlycook]

While I was planting my peppers today, I noticed a toad hopping around in my raised bed. Previously, I had contemplated putting in a toad house or two in each bed but figured that toads would be unlikely to find their way up the 6" sides even if I built a ramp. Now I'm thinking it might be worth trying.

Does anyone with raised beds try to keep toads around? Any success?

[fortyonenorth]

I had lots of toads in my raised beds last year. Didn't do anything to encourage them, but they stayed all summer. On hot days, they'd burrow down in the soil so only their eyes are showing - very cute. Odd thing though, prior to last year I had almost none and this year I haven't seen any either.

[ireilly]

Yeah, they'll burrow into your pots as you said. A couple times I thought the dog had messed stuff up and started to clean up the contents of a pot and the toad would stick its head up suddenly. I'm of the opinion if you have life in your garden you must be doing something right. If it's desirable life from a grower's point of view, even better. Some life like slugs you might not enjoy but it supports the food chain. Some folks raise tomatoes to feed the hornworms to get the sphinx moths. The robins around here love when I tend the compost pile too.

I went to my garden this morning and was pleased to see spider webs spun between all my raised beds. I even have a lot of large assassin bugs. One landed on the edge of my coffee cup. I was careful to gently remove him from my cup.

I've always had a lot of toads in my garden, but they were outnumbered by some kind of green frog which can jump about ten feet. They were in my garden early this spring and I noticed recently, they had disappeared. A few days ago, I killed three copperhead snakes inside the garden fence and knew immediately where the frogs and toads had disappeared to.

I used to move toads to my garden when I found them in other areas of the yard. If they attract the snakes to the garden for an easy meal, I don't think I will be moving any more.

Ted

[recruiterg]

I had a tree frog living in the downspout of one of my Earthtainers last year. That was cool.

[lowlylowlycook]

That's awesome, recruiterg.

[fortyonenorth]

We get lots of tree frogs living in our rain barrel - but that one's a real beauty, recruiterg.

When we lived in Louisiana, tree frogs were a real nuisance. At night, the house lights would attract bugs to the windows. The bugs would attract tree frogs. The window screens would sometimes be covered with tree frogs jockeying for position on the screens. They often would find a way to enter the house at night and I would be on my knees trying to catch them before my wife killed them with a broom. When the humidity was high and all the windows were covered with frogs, you had to turn the volume up on the television or stereo in order to hear it. When you went to bed and turned the lamps off, the frogs would disappear from the windows. They then would sing you to sleep from the trees.

Ted

[recruiterg]

My kids thought it was great. They would always take out the tree frog and hold it and show their friends. I assume some bugs would hatch in the water reservoir of the Earthtainer and the tree frog would sit in the tube and pick off the bugs as they hatched. It was always in the same place last summer.

[waterman1971]

Are the tree frogs beneficial to the garden?

[kevinrs]

frogs and toads eat bugs, not plants, so you can assume that they should usually be beneficial.

[b54red]

I have 8 inch raised beds and have toads every year. I don't know how they get up into the beds but they manage somehow. My little dachshunds sometimes get really foamy in the mouth playing with them.

[Garf]

Sounds like Bufo Marinas. Giant Marine Toad. Highly toxic. My cat got hold of one one year. I had to hose out its mouth.

Originally Posted by Garf

Sounds like Bufo Marinas. Giant Marine Toad. Highly toxic. My cat got hold of one one year. I had to hose out its mouth.

Just a toad to me. My Labrador retriever loves to torment them on the lawn at night. He knows he will be foaming at the mouth if he holds them more than a second. He picks them up quickly, but gently; and tosses them. He still foams, but not as bad as he used to when he tried to hold them. He is smart enough to not bite them.

Ted

[Garf]

Apparently smarter than my cat.