Frogs, and the eating of them

Simple Mom had a great post yesterday on eating your frog first thing in the morning. I tried her theory today, consciously doing my least favourite tasks first up. It worked really well! The sheets and towels are washed, the house is dusted and the furniture polished. However, there is one flaw to her plan that I can foresee- knowing that as soon as I get up I will have to do something that I actively dislike may cause me to stay in bed all day....

Anyhow, on the topic of frogs, our house has a fair variety.

Living in the north of Australia, we have a cane toad problem. They are an introduced species that were originally imported to eat the cane beetle. Unfortunately, they thrived well beyond the cane growers requirements and are now steadily spreading across the north of our beautiful country.

A couple of steps have been taken to try and reduce their impact, as if they are eaten by our local animals they can be lethal. In the Northern Territory, pubs have offered a dead-toads-for-beer trade offer, and community groups run toad hunting days. It reminds me of whacking day on the Simpsons. The newspaper has reported dogs becoming addicted to licking the toads, as their poisonous backs apparently have a hallucinatory effect. I laugh to think of the spaced out druggie dogs addicted to hard frogs, it does worry me having them around the pups because if they eat them they will become seriously ill.

Mr Accident and I keep our yard toad free by scooping them up with a shovel and tossing them onto the road, where almost every driver makes a concerted effort to run them over. I'm head spotlighter, he's head scooper. Here is a picture of one of the little beauties:


I doubt any princesses will be lining up to kiss him! They are one of the few things that really gross me out.

We also have much nicer frogs in the yard, these little green tree frogs:

Cane toads have been known to eat these cute little fellas, and so I always feel like a rescuer when we clear out the toads from the yard.

We also have a shy little white frog that lives in the bathroom and eats ants. We know he's there because we occasionally see him if we surprise him at his job late at night, and he leaves little frog-pebbles for us in the morning. The pebbles are a little annoying (I'd prefer him to be house trained) but they are much nicer that actual ants.

Remember, eat your frogs first thing in the morning!