The new enterprise., 1905-02-23
THE TOAD

lllE lOAb.
According to a recent bulletin issued
by the National Government the toad
is n gross feeder He sallles 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 fill up
four times. Of angle worms he does
not seem very fond, though his glut.
tonOus habit extends to themif they are
too temptingly abundant rs after the
earth has had good wettmg,
Ants appear TO be his chief delight,
with cutworms and thousand-leggers
next in order. Then come caterpillars
and beetles Grasshoppers and crck.
cts furnish but 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 1t eagerly,
A 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 it be.
ware.
His method of capturing a bug Is to
dart out his tongue, which, 10y the way,
reverses the usual order Of nature, il
being fastened in front and loose be-
hind. 1t is coated with a gelatlnous
secretion, and when il strikes an object
it fastens firmly TO it and conveys it
into the toad's mouth. II the object,
like a big worm, for instance, is too
large TO go unassisted into his gullct,
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 c!asslti'
cation Nearly all students Of nature,
as well as persons who have nothing
but the traditions Of their childhood TO
guide their Judgment, have acquired a
certain affection for the ant. Its seem-
ing intelligence, it, artistic or mechani'
cal instinct, its untrlng 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 a sort
of human claim upon mankind.
Still, the fact cannot be ignored that
the ant Is an active distributor Of plaut
lice; that II destroys lawns, spoils gar
den walks, infesrs dwellings and makes
itself a common nuisance in the Gltch-
en- and pantry, driving the dainty
housewife almost 10 distraction. In |
the same category with ants, as to hui
man regard, might be placed honey |
bees, which the toad will eat when he
gets a good chance,
One Of his tricks is TO station himself |
1t the entrance to hive and capture
he belated homecomers, AS the toad
loes not spring into the air for his
food however, any apiarist may avoid
This danger by raising his hives well
lbove the ground.
Reference has been made to the
-oad's consumption Of food as being
,ut Of proportion to his bulk. But
what he can actually do at sitting is
pest told by figures derived from ex-
,eriment. His official record shows one
,ase where he ate ninety rosebugs
Without being satisfied; another where
le snapped up eighty-six house files in
ess than ten minutes. In one toad's
tomach were found seventy-seven
housand-legged worms; in another
lxty-fve gypsy moth caterplllorsi in
mother Gfy-ave army worms, and SO
n.
On the basis Of bis being able TO fill
lis stomach four times in twenty-four
ours, it requires q simple mathematl'
al calculation to discover how many
( each variety Of winged or crawling
est a single toad might get away with
! a day il he kept at 1t and the condi'
ons were favorable, and multiplying
lis product by ninety, MS representing
le DAYS in a summer-for Mr.. Toad Is
0 respector Of Sundays or holidays
% can measure his potential capacity
" good as the gardeners friend.
While thp ratio of insane persons