Cricket Song Farm

Cricket Song Farm

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

"OH, THAT'S what all the croakin' is about"

 "OH, so that's what all the croakin' was about" replied my son as he walked by the small 6'x4'x4' pond in front of the little red house and observed the tiny "polyfrogs"( as we call them at our house) swimming around.  The masses of eggs that are laid and fertilized in the pond were just hatching and the little polyfrogs were thick as flies on a cow-pie.  Every summer we have an abundance of toads that are grown and released into the gardens.




They grow tiny hind legs first, followed by the front legs breaking through the skin
 just a few days later.  


When all four legs are present the tail begins to shrink.  They spend most of the day out of the water
sunning themselves on the mossy rocks. 


This Kestrel Hawk is eating his fill of the tiny toads.  I have also seen the big beautiful Red-Tailed Hawk and other species enjoying a snack.  It is the natural cycle of the food chain and by the time the toads are mature, there are still hundreds left to  place all over the gardens.  
I use the lids off old garbage cans, half buried as mini ponds strategically placed through-out
 the gardens.
The toads are transferred to the mini ponds and hopefully find their way to a new home, burying themselves in the cool dirt under the vegetables, and finding plenty of bugs to eat.


 When we get the early summer rains, the old irrigation pond at the edge of the farm fills with water and the croakin' starts all over again.

1 comment:

  1. We used to have an abundance of frogs and polywogs when i was growing up. Nice to see.

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