A new friend in the Critter Corner!

After the brief excitement of watching the snail eat (lick) breakfast, things were pretty quiet in the Critter Corner yesterday.

It was hot. Really hot. And the snail didn't seem to be any more interested in moving than any of us were.

Then late last night, long after I should have collapsed in bed, I opened the tank to share some fresh chard and spinach with the snail and was totally surprised to find a little TOAD in the tank!

I later learned that it was put in there by John over the weekend. He said he kind of forgot about it and then he wasn't sure if it was still there since he hadn't seen it in a couple of days!

It was really fun to have it be a mystery for a while though. I am usually the one behind the scenes creating the magic for the kids (bringing interesting bits of nature into the house, leaving small gifts from the fairies for them to find in the morning etc.). It was so nice to be on the receiving end of some of nature's magic, even for a short time!

I've yet to get a picture of the new visitor, because I've yet to see it again. I did, however, consult our Pets in a Jar book and learned a bunch of cool stuff about toads.

~ Toads are really good to have in your garden because they eat lots of insects that would otherwise eat our plants.
~ They are active in the evening.
~ Despite popular folklore, you cannot get warts from touching a toad.
~ They like to hide out in the garden and broken flower pots turned upside down make great toad houses.
~ Toads like to eat live insects, earthworms and slugs but can also be trained to eat dog food off a moving string.

Sounds kind of cool but I really don't have the energy to care for anyone or anything else right now so once we have some new toad houses set out, and if I can find it again, I'll move our friend out to the garden!