A toad goes into a pub............

[PETER999]

Last night I found a very small (about 2cm ) toad in the middle of the pub I run. He seemed very dehydrated & I have no idea how he got there. After a night in a box with a load of insects & worms & water I got from the garden he seems to have made a full recovery & is quite happily sitting on the branch in the box Would it be a baby at this time of year or just an incredibly small adult? As we have a river nearby I was going to take him down there as there is now way he will make it across the car park. Advice please

Peter, Bedfordshire

[Gatekeeper]

Yes, it's a young toad, spawned this year. Toads don't need to be in water, except during the mating/spawning period, so there's no need to put it in the water (this would also explain it's dry appearance). I certainly wouldn't advise putting it in the river, as he will literally be 'out of it's depth'; toads prefer still, shallow water, and again only in the mating/spawning period. My advice would be to put the toad into some undergrowth or a thick hedgerow, which preferably contains some logs or fallen branches for it to crawl under, as it will no doubt be imminently thinking about hibernating.

All the best.

[aeshna5]

Unusual pub visitor. You did the right think + Gatekeeper's advice is spot on- don't put him in the river + find a damp area with plenty of cover with logs,etc.

[Littlesparrow]

A toad goes into a pub and said,
'When is a car like a frog?
When it's being toad.'
Ha Hahttp:http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...tor/smilie.gif

[Meta menardi]

Perhaps he was trying to get as, err, tired, as a newt.

[Littlesparrow]

A toad goes into a pub and said
'Why did the toad become a
lighthouse keeper?
He had his own frog-horn.