Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-09-23
ABOUT TOAOS.

How They Catch and Dispose of Their
ing Their Clothes.
Did you ever sit quietly and watch a
toad catching his supper? If not, just
try it, and you will find that it is a
very interesting as well as an amusing
sight There he sits. on the edge of
the path, his bright, bulging eyes fixed
intently on fly that has just alighted
close to him-so very close, in fact,
that YOU wonder what the toad is wait
ing for, since he has only to dart out
his tongue and whisk the fly down his
throat; but he does not do it. No; he
STAYS motionless, his ewes twinkling
with eagerness; and if only that fly
knew what we know, the toad would
never touch him, for all he has to do
is to keep perfectly still until his foe
grows tired of waiting. Yes, that is
the secret of the toad's delay. What
ever the insect that he has selected for
bis supper, it is safe from destruction
until it moves; but then, 10! it is gone
like flash. The culver of a wing,
the twitching of a leg. is enough to
precipitate its doom.
We wonder how many people take
heed of the fact that the despised little
toad is one OF the gardeners most val
ued friends, and that he is a regular
night Waterman over the vegetable
gardens? Very few of us know what
very useful fellow this creature is,
although some are waking up to the
knowledge of it, and among these wise
folks are the market-gardeners of Lon
don and Paris, who know their value
50 well that they buy them by the
dozen and turn them into their hot
beds, thus preserving their plants from
insects. Not only in our gardens are
toads extremely useful. but in our
houses they are valuable allies; for
they do no harm to us, but very much
to our sworn enemies, such as cock
reaches. moths, ccickets, flies, mos
quitoes and ants. They need but to
see an insect stir, and out flashes that
wonderful tongue. And, presto!
where is it? Why, down in the little
throat, landed at the exact spot where
the muscles can seize it and pass it at
once to the stomach. And so rapidly
like cricket, grasshopper or beetle.
Is swallowed, the sides of the toad may
be seen actually twitching, from the
struggles of its still lively victim.
EntcmOlogists press our friend the
toad into their service in a manner
that is rs novel as it is comical. They
catch him at Gaybreak from the field
or garden. kill him, and turn his stom-
ach wrong side out in i pan of water.
OF course all the recently-caught in
sects float to the surface, at the entO-
mologists' service. This looks like a
rather cruel method of studying
entomology, does it not? But the truth
is, that the humble little toad is more
expert catcher and discoverer than his
human superior. and out of his riticd
store-house come treasures in the
shape of rare and tiny nocturnal in
sects that but for his industry would
never have been known or classified by
our savantS
tits not alone winged insects that
the toad feasts upon. There is moth
ing he likes better, for a change of
diet, than a nice, fat worm. and, as
the children say, lit is as good as a
play to see him eating worm-one
that wriggles and twists and sguirms
as if it k2ew it had fallen into the
hands of a relentless enemy. And ii
is literally the hands OF its captor that
are fatal to it, for it would be simply
impossible for the toad to swallow his
wriggling victim. did he not use his
fore paws exactly as we use our hands.
As it is, he is sublimely Indifferent to
H. L. "a \
with it in his mouth, Lifts one paw,
and gives it a push further into his
mouth, and then he swallows, and
down it goes, just little way. Then
up comes the other paw for another
push, and at last. by alternate pushes
and swallows, the poor worm van
.isheS, and our toad sits quietly at ease,
with all the satisfaction of a full stom-
aeh twinkling in his eyes
Ii any one supposes that our friend
the toad is Obliged to wear but one suit
of clothes all his life, that person is mis-
taken. He orders complete new outfit
every now and then, of most expert
work-woman, one Dame Nature; ans!
as for his old suit. newell, we will
see how ne takes it off first, before dis
pos ng of it, which he does in a most
unique manner. Dame Nature, work
ing silently and secretly, as is her way,
makes him 4 new suit beneath the old
one. and then kindly helps him to re-
move the outgrown garments. so to
speak This done. our toad commences
to undress by rubbing his elbows hard
against his sides, and pressing down
ward. Directly, the old suit bursts
open along his back. and he keeps on
rubbing until he has worked it all in
folds on his sides and hips: then he
seizes one of his hind legs with his
stands, and hauls off one leg of his
trousers; and next the other leg is
sserved in the same way. Before he