Toad Tussle

A toad and I tussle between a rock and a cool place…

At farm hill we use a “pot in pot” fridge to keep vegetables cool. You keep a pot within a bigger pot, fill the space between with sand and keep the sand wet (see picture). This makes the inner pot considerably cooler.  We have been able to keep vegetables fresh for up to three days in this “fridge”.

Today, I wanted to clean the inner pot and took it out. Lo, there were three toads lodged in the sand!! Using a flat, long piece of wood, I managed to get them out and pushed them a little away, thinking they will go away.

In a little while, there is a rustle in the leaves near by. The toads were trying to come back to the pot!

I took a stick to push the bigger of them away but he was not giving up. He jumped around, tried to get around me and then jumped straight at me, stick and all not withstanding!! The more I tried to push him away, the more insistent he was to get back. I would push him a whole 6 feet and he would come right back. He puffed up a little too, as if he was getting angry and trying to scare me. Personally, I was very very surprised at my complete inability to intimidate him. What kind of an animal jumps right at a human with a stick!!!

That’s when I realised he is desperate to get to the cool place, given it is very hot today here.

Finally, I put some water around a rock nearby (see picture) and pushed him towards it. Once he felt the wetness, he has settled down a little bit.

I know this was only round 1. Most likely, he will be back in the fridge by the evening!!