Leaving Home for Points Unknown

I'm not sure whether I should call this little creature a toadlet or a baby toad. For the last couple of days I've wanted to capture one of the ever dwindling number of toadlets just to see how they've changed. Yesterday I only saw one toadlet and he was so shy I couldn't get him into the net. Today I was prepared to spend some time trying to capture one as there aren't going to be many more chances this year.

I approached the pond stealthily. I snuck up to the edge and spied a toadlet on a rock about 8 inches deep. I slowly lowered the net so as not to spook the little critter. As the net got closer and closer I went slower and slower. The net was within inches of my target when he zipped down into the murky water. For my purposes that was a one way trip as he was not to return while I was around.

I was about to give up as I couldn't see anymore toadlets when I noticed what I thought was a water spider or maybe just a drowning bug schooch'n around on the surface. I dipped the net into the pond and lifted him out. Lo and behold it was the toad you see below. I guess he got his new lungs filled with air and then didn't know how to dive when the big giant approached.

This guy is so tiny.  I measured my thumb nail from quick to tip and it is exactly 5/8 of an inch.  Our brand new toad is smaller than that, maybe 1/2 inch.

His tail is just a bump on his rump.  If it was still there he would be an inch long, give or take.  The picture (left) is blurry for which I apologize.  My granddaughter isn't here to take the pictures.  You can, however, get a real good idea how small these guys are.

This picture (right) was the only other one that was not so blurry that you could see the toad.  He sure looks lonely sitting on the net. 

Right after this picture was taken he jumped out of the net onto the table.  I was quite concerned he might jump off the table and that would have been a 4 foot leap to the ground.  He doesn't look like superman to me and luckily I was able to get him back in the net before he tried to leap tall tables in a single bound.  I promptly put him back in the pond where he floated on the surface.  I moved him to the shore and he was happy to latch onto a familiar rock.

There probably won't be any more pictures of this years fleet.  If we are lucky enough to spot any toads in the flower bed I'll make an effort to get a picture and report about it in the blog.  I think we are about done with toadlets (pondlets?) and will be looking at the waning of summer in the next 3 to 5 weeks, then into the shorter days of fall.

Whoohoo!