Gardeners beware!

[rainmaker]

Anyone brave enough to do any gardening at the moment please be careful when digging.

I decided to turn over the compost heap in yesterdays barmy climes (actually, it's got to be me that's barmy ), and was very close to skewering 3 of my toad friends.

They were a bit like me on a Monday morning...."what barstool is waking me up at THIS time?!!!"

Still, didn't actually get any of them, and had to relocate them to another patch of garden (note to self:remember where I put them!) as I decided to turn the compost heap into a raised bed

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, I try to avoid gardening at this time of the year. Not just toads but Moles, voles, shrews ... give them a rest (and yourself!).

[Mercadante]

Is there a guide to identifying creatures by their holes?

We have so many toads, and find so many little holes in the earth, I have tended to associate the two - but for no more reason than that.

[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Yes, I try to avoid gardening at this time of the year. Not just toads but Moles, voles, shrews ... give them a rest (and yourself!).

Part of the problem with doing nowt at this time of year is that it actually a really good time to be doing preparatory work - things like pruning, some early ground prep, etc.

Mercadante - I don't think toads & frogs leave holes - they bury themselves deep to protect from the cold and pull everything over the top of them (from what I have been able to see, so don't take that for gospel)

[smartie]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

Part of the problem with doing nowt at this time of year is that it actually a really good time to be doing preparatory work - things like pruning, some early ground prep, etc.

I've begun to realise that there really isn't any time of the year that a wildlife gardener can do any gardening at all. There is always something to disturb. Good excuse for the garden being a mess, though.

[Mercadante]

But if they're buried, aren't they in holes? Or do they just use existing crevices? The holes I was thinking about are typically under rocks and stuff, and an inch or two in diameter.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Mercadante

But if they're buried, aren't they in holes? Or do they just use existing crevices? The holes I was thinking about are typically under rocks and stuff, and an inch or two in diameter.

I have found toads and newts within a patch of soil with seemingly no way in or out........ most peculiar!

[aeshna5]

Last week I was digging from the compost heap when a frog leapt ahead of me- I must have been so close to chopping him, but I was so relieved at the near miss!

I picked him up + moved him off the heap, but he'll probably be back!

[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I have found toads and newts within a patch of soil with seemingly no way in or out........ most peculiar!

Yup, that's where mine were.

If I remember correctly, because of their moist skin, and special adaptations, when they are hibernating over winter their metabolic rate slows enough for them to get enough oxygen for "breathing" (or possibly respiration !) though their skin - basically absorbing oxygen from not only the small air pockets that surround them, but also from dissolved oxygen in water.