The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-01-06
THE TOAD.

According TO a recent bulletin issued
by the National Government the toad
is gross feeder He sallies forth usu-
ally after sundown in search of his
prey. which includes pretty nearly
every variety of insect and worm. and
experiment proves that in twenty-four
hours he will consume insect food OF a
volume fourfold the capacity of his
stomach-in other words. he can iill up
four times. OF angle worms lie does
not seem very fond. though his slut-
tonous habit extends TO themif they are
too temptingly abundant. rs after the
earth has had a good wetting
Ants appear TO be his chief delight.
with cutworms and thousandleggers
next in order. Then come CaterpillarS
and beetles. Grasshoppers and crick-
cts furnish but a small part of his bill
Of fare. and spiders still less. He has
no use, apparently, for dead prey, but
when an insect or worm comes near
him in motion he makes for IL eagerly.
4 cutworm which has discretion
enough when in his neighborhood TO
keep curled up may easily escape, but
as soon as it begins to crawl let IL be-
ware.
His method OF capturing a bug is TO
dart out his tongue, which. by the way,
reverses the usual order OF nature. ii
being fastened in front and loose be-
hind. II Is coated with n gelatinous
secretion. and WREN it strikes an object
it fastens firmly 70 it and conveys IT
into the toads mouth. If the object
like a big worm, for instance, is too
large to go unassisted into his gullet
he uses his forepaws, like a greedy
child. TO stuff it down.
Most OF the viands which the toad
loves are, in their living state, pests Of
the farm and garden. 1t is hard TO say
just where TO place ants in this cIassih'
cation. Nearly all students Of nature,
as we'll as persons who have nothing
but the traditions Of their childhood TO
guide their judsm ent, have acquired
certain affection for the ant Its seem
ing intelligence, its artistic or mechani'
cal instinct. its untiring industry. its
courage, its care for its dead and
wounded. its nice domestic economy
and its habit Of providing against the
rainy day" all tend TO give it sort
OF human claim upon mankind.
Still, the fact cannot be ignored that
the ant is an active distributor OF plant
lice; that il destroys lawns. spoilS ger.
den walks. infests dwellings and makes
itself n common nuisance in the kitCh-
en- and pantry, driving the dainty
housewife almost to distraction. In
the same category with ants, As to hu.
man regard, might be placed honey
bees. which the toad Will eat when he
gets a good chance.
One Of his tricks Is 10 station himself
at the entrance TO a hive and capture
! the belated hOmecomers. As the toad
does not spring into the air for MS
food. however, any apiarist may avoid
| this danger by raising his hives wcu
above the ground.
Reference has been made TO the
toad's consumption Of food as being
out Of proportion TO his bulk But
what he can actually DO at sitting Is
best told by figures derived from cx'
pertinent His official record shows one
case where be otr ninety ro5ebuSs
without being satisfied; another whore
he snapped Up eiSh;y-siX house Gics in
less than ten minutes. In one toad's
stomach were found sevcnty-seycn
! thousand-lcgged worms; in another
sixty-fve gypsy moth catcrp!ilars; in
another flfty army worms, and 50
on.
On the basis Of his being able to fiIl
his stomach four times I'm twcniy-iour
hours, it requires simple mathemat.
cal. calculation to discover how many
Of each variety Of winged or crawling
pest a single toad might get away with
in a day II he kept at it and the condi-
tions were favorable, and multiplying
this product by ninety, as representing
the days in a summer-for Mr. Toad -
no respector Of Sundays or holidays
we can measure his potential capacity
for good as the gardeners friend.