Animals

[claudine]

We are friendly with the toads but I have some apprehensions because I had read in one article that toads have warts on their skin which actually (the warts) hold poison. When it is attacked, the toad would emit venom from their skin. I have 3 dogs who are sometimes let loose in the garden and I'm afraid they would attack the toads.

Yes, I heard about it too. But I don't think this poison is dangerous to dogs. It can cause skin irritation, that's all.
I remember I touched a toad when I was a kid and nothing happened But maybe it didn't want to attack me.

 

[Pat]

This summer I saw birds in the yard that I had never seen before, which was interesting. I feed the wild life in the yard the left over bread we have. The squirrels come up to the patio door and look in when it has been some time since I but any bread out. They will sit on the deck and wait to be fed.

 

[amelia88]

I know when I was living in Australia they have a type of toad there called Cane Toads, which are super poisonous to dogs - there would often be cases of dogs just thinking the toad was a chew toy and then getting severely poisoned. I guess maybe it depends on the species!

 

[Corzhens]

Yes, I heard about it too. But I don't think this poison is dangerous to dogs. It can cause skin irritation, that's all.
I remember I touched a toad when I was a kid and nothing happened But maybe it didn't want to attack me.

We were warned by the vet that there were cases where dogs died of the toad's poison. That particular vet had some cases like that where the dog was brought to his clinic. And so as to be on the safe side, we just watch our dogs when we send them out of the house since we do not want to eradicate the toads. Besides, a farmer said that toads add fertilizer to the soil and is not considered a pest.

 

[Astrollo]

I live in a high desert area with dry sandy soil. We feed the birds from hanging feeders and also have a birdbath with a solar bubbler in it. The birds flock to our yard. Right now our yard has mostly dirt with lots of ant hills and snails. Unfortunately, we also have been getting some skunks who crawl under the fence from the neighbor's house. Ugh! I would love to know how to repel them. They dig little holes in our yard looking for worms perhaps. We have about two dozen large pots, with veggies in them, sitting on a raised wooden shelf my husband built. This keeps them away from the skunks. We also put netting over all the veggies in case the birds or racoons would try to eat them.

 

[Astrollo]

This summer I saw birds in the yard that I had never seen before, which was interesting. I feed the wild life in the yard the left over bread we have. The squirrels come up to the patio door and look in when it has been some time since I but any bread out. They will sit on the deck and wait to be fed.

I love to feed the squirrels and birds also. I have to keep the bird food in a high place where the squirrels can't jump onto the feeder though.

 

[BlueLotus]

Cats, and not just ours, like to sleep under our tomato plants because it's hot. We're one of the few people on our neighborhood that doesn't instantly sick a dog on them. I'm pretty sure they scare off the squirrels, though I've seen a couple. Mostly thought, it's rabbits, butterflies, bees, and praying mantis. We get birds but I don't know them except for the hummingbirds and ravens.

 

[Astrollo]

I never knew the birds either. One day I decided to put some bread crusts outside to see if the birds would eat them. They did and they came back for more!. Eventually, I started buying them some sunflower seeds and millet mix. Boy did they love that! Then I read that birds like water even more than they like food. So, I filled a 20 inch flat ceramic pottery dish with water and set it out for them. Pretty soon they started gathering at the dish and splashing around in the water. It was so cute to watch!