it sounds like toad heaven, sandy!!! kudos for sandy!!!!

i personally have never found a toad stay in my yard. i don't do anything right...though try at times. they do love long grassy areas also. the shallow basins seem to attract them in spring for breeding also. i bet you have loads of loose till for them to winter burrow in! a cool, covered depression in the ground seems to be a preference during hot weather, also. at work, there was a hole about 1' deep left over from some electrical work. there was just enough ledge on the inside. it was covered with plywood...and in the grass. this huge, i would say must have been a female, rested in there every day. another one hangs out in the moist areas by the downspout.

one of these days i am going to build a hibernaculum...i think if my neighbors weren't so determined to have manicured lawns...or dh...i would have more toads.

yeahhhhhhh, sandy! oh, i'd say they would spread out on their own..but you may be quicker at finding themn the "perfect" home in your yard- just in case there is a wrong turn.

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/dep/greenman/toads.pdf#search='toad%20hibernaculum'

a pipe version i have never read: http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=109&articleID=1374

Here is a link that might be useful: this is the one i remember!

Yeah! What FTM said about depressions in the ground, etc., is so true.

My folks have tons of frogs this year, but they've also had many toads show up (and stay, growing to be TOADS with a capital T...LOL) throughout the years. The toads love to hide out under a large slab of concrete which the mulberry roots have pushed up (you all MAY remember the story of my mom's "laundry basket luge"...thanks to that slab of concrete).

The water from the sprinklers keeps it cool and damp under the slab during the HOT N. California summers. They really pack themselves into that area, too. :D

Congrats and good luck on your new wildlife, Sandy!

Brenda

I keep finding a toad in the mulch pile. I mean, was. Finished spreading the mulch yesterday... and I've been scooping real carefully, there were garter snakes in it as well. And at least one chipmunk.

I now have small piles of mulch in various places, also a nice damp garage floor, upside down broken flower pots, etc etc, but i never really see them there. So I don't know where my toad moved to, but I saw a toad poopie on the driveway today. Yes, I picked it apart, true pond forum member fashion, it had lots of beetle parts in it - including Japanese beetle shields! So, why is this woman giving you her toads? If she wants to get rid of beetles?

:) Mary

"Yes, I picked it apart, true pond forum member fashion"-- somehow i feel a line from Anne of Green Gables *coming upon me!

*i did it!

LOL!! If the !@#% don't fit, you must acquit! Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Yay!!! @ FTM's html skills! :D

Brenda

Hey, Mary. The toads didn't come from her yard. The neighbor's children have access to a boggy area on their way home from school. These were close to the road. Gee, school started early this year. Sandy

I hope the kids took some home as well!

Btw, Sandy (et all), Sharon (Norah S) is having her first spine surgery today. she gave me a hospital email link - I'll start a separate post for it. She'll love getting mail.

:) Mary

Sent an e-mail as soon as I saw it. I hope it got through. I'm happy to hear others had the same problems I had with the form. You'd think people who write them would try them out to make sure they work correctly. Sandy

I still don't get the Anne of Green Gables reference. This could be of course because I know more stories about little boys with their fingers in dikes... and I don't have an html link?

:) Mary

sorry mary...i just coulnd't think of the line. referring to your inspection...i believe you are a "kindred spirit" or a "bosom friend." something like that.

Ooooo! I like the bossom part. Promising of bear hugs in the future!

:) Mary

PS I have a few more frog pictures to add to my "Bear with me while I.." thread in the photogallery. Frogs and other critters.

and i had a visitor! see? i am still excited about "my" toad. :)

have they stuck around, sandy?

I don't know about the ones I put in the front yard but I hear the ones in the back at night. I don't really expect to see them until next year since they were so small and the ground cover so thick. I'm trying to get as much leaf mulch down as I can but with the weak back it is slow going. There are a couple of large broken branches in the yard and I'm going to move them to the wooded area to give them a perch and shelter. Sandy

take your time as you can, sandy. glad you have a plan.