When the Toad came home

There was panic in the parlours and howling in the halls,
There was crying in the cow-sheds and shrieking in the stalls,
When the Toad- came- home!
When the Toad- came- home!

There was no such fuss when I came home from London today. All four cats merely yawned and stretched and reminded me it was almost tea time. Outside, the shrill cries of more new lambs filled the air and muck spreading in progress in a neighbouring field wafted fumes my way.

The dog arrived back later. An attempted walk was curtailed when the rain came down but while nosing around in a thicket I came across this juvenile toad with beautiful topaz eyes. If the pupils had been vertical instead of horizontal it would be a midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) a non-native species which has become naturalised in Bedfordshire and several other parts of the UK following their arrival as stowaways in a consignment of garden plants from France around 100 years ago. These tiny toads have an unusual reproductive strategy in that the males carry the fertilized eggs strung rope-like around their legs. Despite being no bigger than a 50p. piece they have a loud piping call. I'd dearly love to have some but it is illegal to disperse them.

NB Don't confuse the midwife toad with the Surinam toad which has an even more bizarre method of reproduction. [Caution if squeamish!]