The tiniest of toads at Mount Auburn Cemetery

So, be warned:  If I’m out walking and I see a toad, I will chase it down, catch it (surprisingly easy to do), then hold it in the palm of my hand for a few moments. 

Toads don’t particularly like getting caught.  But, I’ve found that once you do catch a toad, if you hold it in the palm of one hand, then cup the other hand over the top, the toad will settle down very quickly. There’s something strangely pleasing about the feeling of the cool, smooth underbelly of the toad against the palm of my hand. 

There’s something endearing and admirable about the way that a toad can instantly switch from “DANGER, DANGER, HOP AWAY, HOP AWAY” survival mode to a chill, zen-like calm. 

HOP AWAY! HOP AWAY!

If you’re like 95% of the human population, your next question will likely be: “Don’t toads cause warts?”  It’s the number one Google inquiry regarding toads by the way.

I’m no batrachologist (amphibian expert).  But, based on my own very unscientific research conducted over the past five decades, I can confidently say that touching a toad will not give you warts.   I wouldn’t go so far as to rub a toad all over my face (that would be toadally weird).  But, picking one up and holding in my hand for a minute or two has worked out just fine for me.

And now, thanks to Google, I can tell you that The Cleveland Zoological Society agrees with my findings.  Their website definitively states: “Warts on humans occur when a (human) virus comes in contact with skin and causes an infection. Warts are not caused by touching toads”.

Grace holds a tiny toad

I wish I could say, “Touch a toad today,” and be on my way.  But, the danger of Google is that, while searching for one piece of knowledge, we might learn more than we want to learn.  In my quest to dispel the myth that toads cause warts, I exposed my own naivete.  I stumbled across an article titled “Is Toad Licking Dangerous?”  I had to read it.  Who could resist?

It turns out that, though toads do not cause warts, nearly all toads secrete poison from glands on their bodies.  Fortunately for me the secretions of the Mount Auburn toads are harmless.  It’s likely that they have little harmful effect, other than tasting really, really bad.  I can’t say for sure, as I’ve never tasted a toad.  But, apparently, many other people have.  According to the article, certain folks (I am not one of them) are quite fond of licking toads, as the poison causes hallucinations.

I don’t want to be judgmental, so I won’t.  I’ll be grateful instead.  I’m grateful that the reality of my life isn’t so bad that I feel compelled to lick toads to escape it.

With all of the above in mind, I have to wonder about those old fairy tales that we’ve all read:  Princess kisses a frog, the frog becomes a prince, and they live happily ever after.  Maybe the princess kissed a toad and hallucinated that the toad became a prince.  This I find totally believable.  But, how could they possibly have lived happily ever after?  It’s certainly something to ponder when you can’t sleep some night.  I know I will.

But, back to my brief relationship with this particular toad:  I opened my hands, it hopped back to the safety of the grass, hopped a foot or two, then stopped.  That’s when I got down on the ground, looked into the little toad’s eyes.  I chuckled and said, “Silly toad.  You know I can still see you, right?”

Now I realize that the toad isn’t silly.  The toad is confident. 

From the toad’s perspective: I didn’t hold it gently in my hands; I tried to eat it.  I didn’t willingly free it; I spit it out when I realized how bad it tasted.  The toad knows that it tastes bad, and the toad knows that it’s pretty darn good at camouflaging itself.  The toad is confident that even if I can see it, I’d be stupid to try to eat it again.  All it has to do is wait me out.  Then, it can be on its way. 

And, that’s exactly what happened.

Still, I can’t help but see a little twinkle in the toad’s eye and a little smirk on its lips.  I smile and  wonder if maybe there really is a little prince or princess in there. 

Or, maybe I should have washed my hands before eating our picnic lunch that day.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER TOADALLY POSITIVE POSTS

The post Toadal Confidence appeared first on .