I did get your link to work, just had to search from the main page. I do have some goldfish in the pond and probably will have more after this spring. Started off with 2 and now have 20 so will give some to a local pet shop probably and give some to friends. I love the toads and my one "pet" frog that made residence. The kids from the neighborhood love watching the cycle of life from mating, eggs, tadpoles, all the way to adults and some of the babies you can even regognize to adulthood by their odd coloring every now and then. Those ones get names. I'm so excited for my first sets of the southern leopard eggs though. We have parrotfeather, hornwart apleanty and iris for the bog and 2 lilly plants and add water hyacinth in the summer. Probably will add in a couple weeks because don't do well if added to early. BTW--The toads do use the lillies, especially the babies during their inbetween stages. We'll often find them still with pointy tails on the pads. We also keep various other plants in the bog that "feeds" down to the pond, usually canna, elephant ear or impatience.

How sweet! I love sitting outside in the evening listening to the chorus. Had to laugh at my husband when I pointed out one particular frog sound and he said he thought all the noise was crickets or birds. Are you familiar with the Florida Wildlife Extension frog page? Good stuff. I went outside this morning to find a spawn of frog eggs in the pond. Curious if it is the tree frog or the southern leopard frog. We have a resident leopard frog and it's pretty cool. ~dianne Here is a link that might be useful: Frogs & Toads

Lubbers must taste really nasty, since even my chickens won't eat them. They do catch/kill/eat Bufo toads, so I figure something in their physiology makes the toxic excretions/taste of the Toads of no consequence? My dogs will squash a Lubber with their paws, but then act disgusted and stop. They must smell terrible to stop a dog that will eat most gross things! My dogs ignore the Toads-we have lots of them on our property. They *are* dangerous to small dogs, but neither my Pug or the JRT will bother them. The big dogs will sometimes paw at them, but it is half-hearted. If your small dog mouths/bites a Bufo, or any warty/grey/brown toad, wash/wipe the mouth/lips/gums of your dog repeatedly with a wet washcloth. Rinse the washcloth over and over. The toxin is white and sticky. Do not use a hose to attempt to clean the mouth!!!! Bufo Toad toxicity causes the gums to turn red, can cause vomiting, ataxia, seizures and cardiac complications. An ER visit is recommended to flush out the toxins and control seizures. The chickens eat Frogs as often as possible. Gross, especially since the Frogs scream! Frogs are not harmful if eaten. We have none that are poisionous here that I know of. Several of my dogs amuse themselves by catching flies. I worry about them doing the same with bees or wasps. Benadryl helps allergic reactions, given at 1 mg per lb. Severe reactions mean an ER visit, since breathing can be affected. Lizards are fair game here for dogs and chickens. They are numerous, and the population seems stable in spite of being prey. Contrary to popular belief, eating Skinks does not cause vestibular disease in Cats. Vestibular occurs in cats that are in Canada, where there are no Skinks. No toxin has been identified in Skinks, in spite of extensive research.. Snakes are a real worry in our wooded neighborhood! My JRT was a feral dog. She kills every snake she finds, including Coral Snakes. The Mastiffs are not as alert to movement, but they would have no clue that snakes could be dangerous. The other day the pups brought me a very large Garter Snake, that the JRT killed. It could just as easily been a Rattler. Pygmy Rattlers are very common here, as are the full sized ones. I once had 3 Mastiffs get bitten by rattlers, as they all had to see what the other one had! Cost me a fortune for antivenom, but they all recovered. Fire ants are common and seem more of a problem to people than for animals. I have no idea why, but the chickens and dogs seem unfazed by fire ants. Despite all the possible dangers, my animal family does just fine here in the "farms." Lisa

Tiny toads? Are they maybe those little non-native greenhouse frogs?I doubt they'll suffer from the DE - which isn't very effective for caterpillars anyway, as imagardener sez. Here's a neat trick I learned years ago from Organic Gardening's TV show: simply stick 2-4 toothpicks or twigs into the soil right up against the stems of cutworm-threatened plants - spacing them equally - the caterpillars encircle stems to do their dirty work & this foils 'em.Just make sure the sticks extend @ least 1 inch into the soil(more is better) & a few inches above. This has worked for me & is much quicker & more dependable than collars; there're always lotsa twigs around handy, so I don't have to do much prep when setting out my transplants. HTH