The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-06-29
The Story of a Toad,

1.-The life history of the common or
warty toad is exceedingly interesting as
told by Henry Simon Gage in Cornell
Nature Study Leaflets" He says that
the little animal is such good friend
to the farmer, the gardener, the fruit
grower, the florist and the stock raiser
that every man and woman, every boy
and girl, ought to know something about
it, and thus learn to appreciate their low
~ helper.
1t is hoped and sincerely believed that
the feeling Of repugnance and dislike and
the consequent cruelty to toads will dis
appear when the children know some
thing about their wonderful changes in
form. structure and habits, and how
harmless and helpful they are.
1t is common expression to say 'as
ugly as a toad, and yet did you ever
notice what beautiful eyes it has?
Shakespeare refers to them in the lines:
Sweet are the uses Of adversely,
Which like the toad, ugly and vcnOmous,
Wears yet Il precious Jewel in it's head
The young of the frog, the toad and
the trcetoad are called tadpoles or polli-
Wogs. The toad tadpoles are blacker
than any. of the others. From the LIST
are happening with the tadpolcs in the
ponds. Both the fore and hind legs ap-
pear; the head and body change in form,
the color becomes lighter. and, but for
the tail, the. tadpole begins to look quite
like it's mother. Soon the tail begins to
out. the tadpole likes to put its nose out
of the water into the air, and sometimes
it crawls half way out. Finally the time
comes when the tadpole, now trans
formed into a toad. must leave tho water
for the land, and now its food consists
OF every creeping. crawling or living
thing, that is small enough to be swat
lowed.
Think how many insects and worms a
toad could destroy iii Il single summer.
Practically every insect and worm de-
stroyed adds to the produce of the garden
and the farm, or takes away one cause
Of discomfort to men and animals. One
observer reports that a single toad dis
posed Of tWCnty-fuur caterpillars in ten
minutes, and another ate thirty-tive cell
cry worms in three hours. He estimated
that good-sized toad will destroy nearly
ten thousand insects and worms in sin
gle summer.
When the air is too cool the toad gets
stupid and inactive. In September and
October a few toads may be seen on
warm days or evenings, but the number
becomes smaller and smaller; and finally
as the cold November weather comes on
none are seen. Where are they? The
toad setms to know that winter is COM
ing, that the insects and worms will dis
appear so that no food can be found. 1t
must go into a kind of deathlikc sleep
in which it hardly moves or breathes. \
toad is sensible enough to know that it
will not do to go into this profound sleep
except in some safe and protected place.
If it were to freeze and thav with every
change in the weather it would not wake
up in the spring.
1t is interesting to see toad bury it.
self. 1t digs with it's hind legs and body,
and pushes itself backward into the hole
with it's front legs. The earth caves in
as the animal backs into the ground, SO
that no sign is left on the outside. Once
thawing of winter, the toad moves
around till there is a little chamber
slightly larger than its body; then it
draws its legs up close, shuts it's eyes,
puts its head down between or on its
hands, and goes to sleep and sleeps for
five months or more. When the warm
days of spring come. again it wakes up
and crawls out and looks around for in
sects or worms and acts as if it had had
only a comfortable nap.
Probably every boy and girl living in
the country has heard that if. one takes
a toad in his hands, or If toad touches
him anywhere he will "catch the warts -
This is not so at ALL as has been proved
over and over again. If toad is ham
died gently and petted little, it soon
learns not to be afraid, and seems to ell
joy the kindness and attention.: If a
toad is hurt or roughly handled. whit
ish, acrid substance is poured out of the
largest warts. This might smart lit
tie if it got into the mouth, as dogs find
out when they are biting toad. It can
not be bad, however, or the hawks, owls,
crows and snakes that eat the toad
would give up the practice. The toad is
really one of the most harmless creatures
in the world, and has never been known
to hurt man or child.-New York Trib-
une ..,~ ...-