Arizona Chickens

[MagicChicken]

I love my toads. They eat lots of bugs. The toads soak in the fish pond and in the chickens' rubber wading bowls most evenings in the summer and I've never had a problem. I love hearing the toad chorus when we get summer storms. If I had dogs that attempted to eat the toads I might feel differently. As it is I encourage all the toads I can get. Anything that eats bugs is okay by me!

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

Yeah, it's the dog aspect that worries. Usually, they're great about leaving them alone. I've caught 1 of my 3 going to chase one a few times, thankfully I've got her to tell her to stop. The sonoran desert toads can spit their hallucinogenic a bit of a distance if scared apart from just it being on them. I have the great luck to have pups that like chicken & bunny poop....so my worry is that they'll lick up that stuff while going after their 'treats'. Yes, tried to break them of that...losing battle. Bigger battle is not having my chiweenie collect eggs. Thankfully, we're down to her getting the broken egg. She was going out, picking an egg up, then bringing it in to eat it. lol

 

[MagicChicken]

Yeah, it's the dog aspect that worries. Usually, they're great about leaving them alone. I've caught 1 of my 3 going to chase one a few times, thankfully I've got her to tell her to stop. The sonoran desert toads can spit their hallucinogenic a bit of a distance if scared apart from just it being on them. I have the great luck to have pups that like chicken & bunny poop....so my worry is that they'll lick up that stuff while going after their 'treats'. Yes, tried to break them of that...losing battle. Bigger battle is not having my chiweenie collect eggs. Thankfully, we're down to her getting the broken egg. She was going out, picking an egg up, then bringing it in to eat it. lol

I am 99.9% sure that spitting thing is a myth. (Leaving room for doubt because any time I am 100% sure of something I am invariably wrong.) Sonoran desert toads secrete the toxin from their paratoid glands. There is no mechanism for spitting. You (or the dog) have to have contact with the toad to transfer the toxin.

 

[BlueBaby]

I love my toads. They eat lots of bugs. The toads soak in the fish pond and in the chickens' rubber wading bowls most evenings in the summer and I've never had a problem. I love hearing the toad chorus when we get summer storms. If I had dogs that attempted to eat the toads I might feel differently. As it is I encourage all the toads I can get. Anything that eats bugs is okay by me!

I bet that DesertChic would gladly let you come get all of her toads!

 

[BlueBaby]

Yeah...that's what I was afraid of. Where we live the toad population is so abundant that relocating them really doesn't result in much relief. More simply show up. Oh well....we'll just have to remain diligent about keeping our dogs away from them.

MagicChicken seems to want some more of those toads. Maybe you could work out something with her or him about them!

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

MagicChicken....works for me if they don't spit. I'm probably confusing them with something else. Either way, I'm not wanting to chance them excreting cause I'm trying to catch them or my pups are then my pups going & licking where the toad was or drinking water they were in. I can't buy that some of the toxin wouldn't wash/come off. My dane is my service animal & my chiweenie will work as his backup when he's not able to work (not physical task, but alert) so I'm overly cautious when it come to my pups.

 

[DesertChic]

MagicChicken seems to want some more of those toads. Maybe you could work out something with her or him about them!

LOL! I'll let you guys know when they start making an appearance. So far we haven't had any around the house, but I know the time is coming. Last year we had one so big it covered the entire spade of a shovel, and so heavy I could barely lift it!

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
Odd that they haven't made an appearance yet. My Sonoran Desert Toads have been active for a couple of months. The spadefoot toads made their appearance after the storms we had a few days ago. Maybe you've succeeded in reducing the population at your place?

I don't recommend transporting them here. I love the toads, but my neighbor kills every one he sees. Breaks my heart. My neighbor on the other side spent the weekend digging out his wash with a backhoe. Turned a great natural area into a wasteland. All of our neighborhood wildlife is scrambling for shelter now. Good thing I don't have a gun. I would have been sorely tempted to use it.

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

MagicChicken....I'd be tempted too! I may not like the toads in my yard, but I don't want to kill them. I do appreciate what they bring to the world. Kills me when I see things like that happen instead of finding a way to work with what was there before. I'm so bad about it that I cringe every time I'm trimming my mesquite & apologizing to it....unfortunately, I have to keep it clear of the power lines, be able to walk under it, & not have the branches dig holes into my patio or house roof. I didn't trim soon enough or back enough last time & found a hole started on the patio this year...thankfully it's not all the way thru the wood. This tree protects my chicks from the sun, predators...everything. Plus, my roo loves climbing on the trunks (it's a multitrunk that part goes horizontalish) to vocalize. So I'm totally attached to it. Hate that what I've trimmed has kind of changed it's wild look, but it's gotta be done. The branches do make great roosting bars.

 

[cactusrota]

Ya know what I would do for your toads is put out light, either a bug zapper or just a regular light bulb, about 6 feet above the ground somewhere a few feet outside the fence or somewhere the dogs can't go. The toads will learn quickly that bugs fall to the ground under the light and they'll all congregate there. At least they do under our bug light. We've got three different ones here, the woodhouse toads, the colorado river toads, and I can't remember what the third one is at the moment. My dogs never bothered with them so I never worried about it.