The bane of my existence

Toads!

Every spring since I have lived in this house, the toads come out of hiding and congregate in my pond to have an orgy! They are pretty much here from May thru September, sometimes into October. The first year it happened, I was totally grossed out, but now I have just come to accept it; my alternative is to fill in the pond which I don't want to do. These creatures only come out after dark and and most nights there are two or three of them, but some nights there are so many it looks like a science fiction movie! They are ugly and excessively loud. These are not cute little green frogs, these are ugly, gray/brown/black reptilian looking creatures. The noise they make while calling their mates is indescribable! Not a nice little "rrrbbbittt", more like a "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and this goes on well into the night, until day break. My little Scottie dog Rosie absolutely flips out when she hears them, crawls under chairs, shakes, and just wants to hide. All the neighbors know when the toads are in my pond as they can hear them as well. One night last summer, my neighbor and I had had enough of them and after a little liquid courage stood over the pond and caught at least 10 of them, put them in a bucket and carried them to a creek and set them free. The one thing we forgot to do was mark them with spray paint to see if the same ones made it back to my yard, because they were back in full force a few days later. Well these things being not the smartest of God's creatures, sometimes find their way into the pool instead of the pond and I am forced to fish them out in the morning. I take the long pole with the skimmer net on it and scoop them up and flip them over the fence into the alley. I am just waiting for the day when some unsuspecting driver finds a flung toad land on his windshield and gets an up close and personal view of "Mr Toads Wild Ride"! Well this morning was no different and of course found one in the pool. This time I think he landed in the neighbor across the alley's yard, maybe he'll make that his new home. I have attached a picture below of the one I fished out this morning just so you can understand my absolute disgust at these amphibians. If anyone has any ideas on how to get rid of them, I am welcome to suggestions!



On the adoption front, it appears that several agencies are going to receive their accreditation certificate on July 4th! WHOOOHOOOO. This is what we have been waiting for for the past seven months! It should not be too much longer before I get my courtdate, but I am beyond speculating when that might be. I just hope Katia and Pasha like toads!



Jane