Lot of frogs and toads this year around here

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2669298,CST-NWS-frogs03.article

September 3, 2010

It's been a good year for frogs and toads in the Chicago area, experts say.

With the warm, wet summer, "There have been many vernal -- or temporary -- ponds and puddles this year," said Judy Boehmer, a volunteer with the Calling Frog Survey, which keeps tabs on the amphibians throughout the area as part of a broader monitoring effort including a wide range of animals being done under the umbrella of the environmental group Chicago Wilderness.

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I purposely take the dog for a walk later at night so we can scoot the frogs and toads off and away from the road before they get run over. Think the heat from the blacktop attracts them there?

[JoDog]

1. I've definitely noticed more toads

I'm in the far NW burbs of Chicago, and I've seen a lot more toads hanging out in my garden. That's great because they are natural insect control.

[CanonRay]

2. As long as it doesn't start raining them

I think it will be ok.

[MineralMan]

3. Yah, there have been tons of small toads in my yard

this year. A guy's gotta be careful mowing the lawn. I've rescued a bunch of them as I've been mowing. They hop up when the mower gets fairly close, so you can catch them and move them to an already-mowed area. Cute little buggers.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Had a bunch of bigger ones that my grandson had all of them named but those have disappeared

Probably the raccoons on their night patrol got them?

But we have tons of little ones now all over the place. Too numerous to name them all.

Toads and what I think may be tree frogs? They look like frogs. Just not in water and not as green perhaps.

There's a bunch of them though.

Don

[EFerrari]

5. Kid found one bigger than my fist the other night

and jumped back about six feet. Reverse retrieving. lol

I couldn't figure out where he thought he was going, up a dry hillside. Maybe he was taking a walk, too.

[NNN0LHI]

6. An owl got one of my favorite toads last night

My wife and I went out to watch him feeding last night and it was him that was being fed on. Big owl.

Man, there wasn't much left after the owl got done with him. Few itty bitty pieces of meat and some blood was all that was left of him.

Had him around here for two years. Lady at the zoo said that two years was the average life span for toads. They can live longer but she said two years is about it due to predation. She was right.

Don