Mama Toad is missing. Coming home and arriving at our front door without her familiar presence is disheartening. I swear she would actually smile at us. Don't you think so too?
The Toad Abode
My husband and I have a wooden “toad abode” on the wall by our front door. Actually we have two such abodes and a wreath on our front door that contains tiny bird houses which have also been inhabited by our friendly toads.
Mama Toad has been a fixture by our front door for at least a year, along with many of her offspring and suitors such as the little guy above. They learned long ago that we were not a threat and don't even bother popping back into their hole when they see us. They sit in their abode with their little heads sticking out of the hole and look at us quite intently. They are a welcoming presence to our abode.
We leave the outside light on at night for their dining pleasure since the light attracts so many flying insects. The toads have it made. We also have a small pond that we fashioned out of a discarded bath tub which is filled with water plants and a lot, and I mean a lot, of tadpoles. It's a lovely little sanctuary and our guests are always amused by the toads' presence…that is unless one of the toads decides to take a flying leap on somebody, whereupon the hapless visitor shrieks, and we laugh, and all in all everybody seems to have a good time. Well at least the toads and my husband and I do.
The toads are such a hit that even the UPS lady will stop for a nanosecond to admire them. Getting a UPS person to do anything but run to and from their truck is quite a feat. But our toads have that kind of effect on people.
Where is Mama Toad?
So it was much to our sadness to discover last week that Mama Toad is missing. She's taken off for a couple of days once or twice before but has never been gone for a week.
To a lot of people reading this, they just won't get it. A toad? You actually miss a slimy, creepy toad? The answer to that is a resounding yes!
Mama Toad was a real Big Mama, easily distinguishable from all the other toads. She had a smile that would melt your heart. Ok, perhaps that's anthropomorphizing a bit too much but she did make us smile.
Our other toads are still with us and we enjoy seeing them but still, they can't compare to Big Mama. She was special and if you don't get it, then I can't explain it to you. I'll keep going to the door, opening it with trepidation and hoping to see Big Mama sitting there on top of her Toad Abode either alone or with one of her many boyfriends keeping her company.
In the meantime I'll just hope that she's alive and well and gone off to greener pastures although I can't imagine she'd find a place better than her little commune, with free food, free housing and no predators.
You're right…she could be dead. Probably is. We all have to go sometime. She had a good little life while she was here. Farewell Mama Toad. Thanks for the memories.
