Earlier this evening, the dogs and I saw our little toad who lives in the backyard with his mama. He was squatting right next to a baseball-sized hole in the yard (perhaps an old well or something?) and looked right at us before hopping directly into the hole. It seemed strange that an animal would instinctively do something so counterintuitive, but I guessed that he must know a way out that I couldn't see from above ground.
A few hours later, I was making a little fire out back and decided to look in the hole with my headlamp. In the bottom of the hole, maybe four feet down, was little toad. When he looked up at the light, however, I noticed another set of black eyes underneath him: his mama! She was stuck down there and he'd gone in after her!
I tried using sticks to help them out, but they seemed lethargic, resigned to their fate. I knew I could not let them die like that, but how do you get two big toads out of a little hole in the ground without hurting them?
Finally, I remembered that toads are amphibious (thank you, fourth grade science teacher), so I filled a bucket with water and returned to the hole. I was really scared as I poured the water on top of our little toad family - are they too dehydrated to swim? Is there enough room in the hole for mama to stretch her limbs? Would they drown before they had a chance to surface?
For a few seconds, I held my breath, waiting for a toad to pop out of the now-flooded hole, but nothing happened. An air bubble floated to the surface and I realized I had to do something fast; I grabbed the stick I'd been trying to fish them out with earlier and gently slid it down the murky well until I felt resistance. I jiggled it slightly, not really sure whether it was helping or hurting the situation, when suddenly two air bubbles floated to the surface, followed by little toad!
I was so happy when he jumped out of the water - I half expected him to gasp a big breath of air like a mammal would- but he just hopped away. Mama was still down below. I wasn't sure about her. She's an awfully fat toad, and I figured I'd have to somehow turn her sideways to get her swimming. Anyway, I had to try.
After jiggling the stick around for a few seconds, I actually felt her move a bit, and a couple air bubbles rose to the surface. I slid the stick down further and somehow managed to pull her up enough that she could extend her legs. Almost immediately, her big ole toad nose broke the surface of the water. Mama was free!
She hopped away into the night, toward the coconut tree stump where I'm sure little toad was waiting, and hoping.
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