I got em too, Laurie. And by August we'll have a bunch of tiny little tan-colored toads roaming around the grass--I can hardly bear to mow!

Don't know anything about either of them. And I had the same experience with my mulched beds more than once--if they're there, I figure they must be chowing down on some insects and for me that's a good thing. It's gotta be cooler under a rock or mulch, too, in this weather.

I bet a search for frogs in the Rocky Mountains might turn something up.

dutch

Laurie, we have them, too, and they are a wonderful thing! I have one toad that lives under some big boulders in my yard, and he is the size of a young rabbit. He regularly scares the pants off me, but I enjoy him all the same.

I think the fact that they are in your garden is a good sign of rich eco-life in the area.

Pam T
wishccr

FunkyDutch and Pam,

They do seem to be a normal part of Colorado life.

Pam, amazing how huge yours is. I just encountered another large one in the front garden. You're right that they tend to hang out near large stones/boulders. Mine come out when I give the plants a good soaking -- it flushes out the toads. They are well camouflaged, sometimes I hardly see them except for their movement. They are brave too, don't hop away from me.

LaurieDutch

Yes, I would say he's about 6 to 7 inches in diameter.

Recently we had a large party and my husband came in very sad. He said someone ran over our friend the toad and "made a big mess." I ran out to bury the thing before my dogs rolled in it (or worse) and discovered it was actually a large purple, green, and red toy in the high grass that had dropped out of a guest's car. Whew!

Pam T
wishccr

-- purple, green, and red toy in the high grass that had dropped out of a guest's car. Whew! --

Yes, whew to that.

Is your frog those colors? Our are sort of a pale yellow or beige. I've seen some that are a dark green too.

Laurie

I'm curious about what part of Colorado you live in that you have garden toads.
Karen

We're in Lafayette. When we lived in Erie, we had the smaller froggies that kept ending up in the window well areas. But here in Lafayette, I think we have toads since they are much larger and look different than what we had in Erie.

LaurieDutch

I don't have frogs or toads here at 7800 feet but much to my surprise I have salamanders living in tunnels dug by some sort of nasty little rodent. I googled salamanders living underground in gardens and apparently they are very common.

We're not near any lakes, ponds or rivers so it is a mystery where they are coming from.

Gail

I live west of Fort Collins directly behind Horsetooth Rock at about 6,800 feet.

We also have little lizards that my husband says are "rail lizards", they are greenish beige, a little bumpy, and slender with a very short tail. They are really cute little guys.

If anyone has a toad or two or more to share somewhat near Boulder, I would love to pick it/them up and re-introduce toads to my garden.

Thanks!

Funnily enough i have noticed something along these lines where i live in the United Kingdom, i watched a small frog climb down a crack in the pavement and underground right outside my house, i think theyre horrible as i am petrified of frogs. Aha!

I too have a pet one in my garden. He must eat millions of bug each year for me. Lose one every now and then with the rototiller tho.
My brother has them in Kansas too. He tells me they are a toad, not a frog, all though I don't know the difference.

He tells me they are a toad, not a frog, all though I don't know the difference.
Check the link below, colokid, as well as this one: How to tell the difference between frogs and toads I have always associated frogs with lakes or ponds, while toads were more of a dry land amphibian, but I think I have been mistaken!

I wish I had toads in my garden, but with three mini-Dachshunds and a Shepherd/Malamute mix of my own, plus the neighborhood cats, no such luck. I've never actually seen one around here, but I used to have garter snakes in my garden, but if they are still around, they keep themselves well hidden. :-(

Holly

Here is a link that might be useful: Frogs vs Toads

I don't know if its the same toad, or a different toad, or toad off-spring, but I have a resident toad that spends the summer sitting in the end of the 4" drain pipe that comes out of the greenhouse sink and into a flower bed. He/she? barely fits. But every summer, there it is, sitting there looking all toady.

My husband has been seeing the little and big brownish toads in our yard, but he just came in and said there was a black one that hopped up on the patio when he was mowing. I live in Western Colorado and was wondering if anyone could tell me, what happened to him to make him black or a lot darker than the normal ones we see all the time. Love the little guys.

I'm so jealous. I wish I had toads or lizards. I'm in old town Brighton. All I have is birds, squirrels, and my cats! The squirrel population is down because my neighbor has been trapping and relocating them like crazy the last two years. There are always more though. If anyone wants some squirrels, I can bring them to the fall swap! HaHa Back to the toads. I had a friend with a lot and I brought 2 maybe 2 inchers to my garden one year, but I never saw them again. My son even dug little tunnels under rocks for them, and we kept out shallow bowls of water. Maybe some birds made meals of them!

This post was edited by catnohat on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 12:08