A Tadpole Tail..er...Tale

Posted Sunday, August 26, 2012, at 12:14 PM

Baby toad - toadlet!

I have a dog named Bingo. She is part-lab, part-mutt and she loves water. I have kept a kid's wading pool for her every summer for 7 years. Periodically I clean the pool out and refill it.

Several weeks ago I walked over to dump the water. My vision is not great but I noticed as I approached that there were things swimming in it. I was a little horrified at the time. My horror turned into delight when I finally made it there. Tadpoles! And not just a few tadpoles - maybe ... 200 of them!

A few days before that I had become acquainted with a female toad in my backyard. It was a little odd as there is no close source of water for them. It happened during the last half of that drought we had.

So, apparently Mama Toad was opportunistic.....and loved to reproduce (3 generations of tadpoles)....and believed in public assistance as I have not seen her again.

So my summer project began. I bought Gerber's flaked baby cereal, and goldfish flakes. I later bought a small net, Mosquito Dunks, and chlorine remover. I took pictures and video. It was fun. Was.

Now I can't wait until they leave. There are about 20 of them left. Like many things in life, the experience was great, but I am so over it now.

Comments
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Ribbiting!!! Ha! Love this comment. Yes, I do think the welfare is better here...

-- Posted by wildwoman on Wed, Aug 29, 2012, at 8:24 AM

Hi Neighbor, I think your original frog came from my back yard as I have misplaced her. Guess you offered better welfare. My mosquitoes and cellar bugs were not good enough. Anyway good to see you online.

-- Posted by cherokee2 on Tue, Aug 28, 2012, at 6:03 PM

I never thought about how young toads get started. Since I never see them in the water, I guess I figured they were born out of it as well.

-- Posted by stevemills on Mon, Aug 27, 2012, at 9:02 AM

Must have been a ribbiting experience!

-- Posted by chefgrape on Sun, Aug 26, 2012, at 1:51 PM

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Vicky Carder

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Vicky Carder is a Shelbyville native. In 1991 she founded Walden's Puddle Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Nashville. There she served as Executive Director for more than 12 years. The Center is the largest wildlife hospital in Middle Tennessee. She has published in wildlife national and international journals. Now she wants to share her knowledge of native wildlife and some of the experiences she had while working with wildlife.

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