306 



RECREATION. 



leaves, or rubbish, and in places where the 

 action of frost will not be felt. Cold 

 benumbs them but does not kill. 



The toad can not endure high tempera- 

 tures. Properly speaking, it is a noc- 

 turnal animal, and ventures out during the 

 day only when tempted by an abundance 

 of food in its immediate vicinity, or when 

 the air is full of moisture. It eats only 

 living and moving insects, centipedes, etc. 



The toad's tongue, its only organ for 

 seizing food, is soft, extensile, attached 

 in front but free behind, and is covered 

 with a glutinous substance which adheres 

 firmly to the food seized. So rapid is the 

 motion of this weapon that a careful watch 

 is necessary in order to see the animal 

 feed. 



At night, soon after sundown, or even 

 before on cool evenings, the toad emerges 

 from its shelter and slowly hops about in 

 search of food. Something of a regular 

 beat is covered by these animals, whose 

 sense of locality is quite strong. In the 

 country this includes forays along road- 

 sides, into gardens and cultivated fields, 

 and wherever insect food is abundant and 

 grass or other thick herbage does not pre- 

 vent locomotion. In cities and suburban 

 villages the lawns, walks, and particularly 

 the spots beneath electric lamps, are fa- 

 vorite hunting grounds. 



The toad as a rule feeds continuously 

 throughout the night, consuming in 2A 

 hours an amount of food equal in bulk 

 to about 4 times the stomach capacity. 



A careful examination of the contents 

 of the stomachs of a large number of 

 toads showed that 98 per cent, of its food 

 was animal matter — worms, insects, etc. 

 "Eleven per cent, of the toad's food is 

 composed of insects and spiders beneficial 

 or indirectly helpful to man; 80 per cent, 

 of insects and other animals directly in- 

 jurious to cultivated crops or in other 

 ways obnoxious to man." It is estimated 

 that a single toad destroys in a year in- 

 sects which, if they had lived, might have 

 damaged crops to the extent of about 

 $20. 



To all agriculturists the toad renders 

 conspicuous service, but gardeners and 

 greenhouse owners may make this animal 

 of especial value. Every gardener should 

 aim to keep a colony of toads among his 

 growing crops and the practice of collect- 

 ing and transferring them to the gardens 

 is a commendable one. While the sense 

 of locality is strong in this batrachian and 

 it will often return over considerable dis- 

 tances to its original haunts, yet it may 

 be induced to remain in new quarters if 

 there is a sufficient food supply. 



The crow and various species of hawks 

 nnd owls are the chief natural enemies of 

 the toad, but as a common enemy of the 

 toad the ubiquitous small boy plays a 



prominent part. Seventeen toads dead and 

 more or less mutilated were once ob- 

 served at Maiden, Mass., lying on the 

 shores of a small pool. This was the re- 

 sult of 2 hours' amusement on the part of 

 2 juveniles. 



This is not an extreme case. Such' cruel 

 and senseless persecution is only of too 

 common occurrence. The loud cry of the 

 toad at spawning time readily betrays its 

 presence, and small boys, and sometimes 

 those of larger growth, gravitate toward 

 the pools as naturally as do the toads 

 themselves. There have been excellent 

 laws enacted to protect our insectivorous 

 birds. Why should there not be as strin- 

 gent legislation against the destruction of 

 toads? If merit of service rendered to 

 man be the standard by which legislation 

 is determined, the toad presents a record 

 which will compare favorably with that 

 of any insectivorous bird. Public senti- 

 ment in a matter like this, however, exerts 

 a stronger influence than legislation, and 

 when the services of this animal are ap-- 

 preciated and the toad receives in our 

 public schools recognition similar to that 

 given to the birds, then we may expect to 

 see a lessening of the wanton destruc- 

 tion of this humble servant of man. 



EXPERIENCE WITH THE GROUND SQUIRREL. 



Alameda, Cal. 

 Editor Recreation : 



I am much interested in all the sub- 

 jects of which your well regulated maga- 

 zine treats. Just at present I am thinking 

 of the pestiferous and ubiquitous ground 

 squirrel, Spermophile beechyi, and a few 

 moments' fun I once had with some of 

 them. During the winter here they ap- 

 pear to lie dormant part of the time, and 

 one winter a few years ago, when their 

 burrows in our orchard were full of wa- 

 ter, a small colony of the squirrels took 

 refuge in a hollow limb of a live oak. It 

 was a gigantic tree, but the heart had 

 rotted out years ago, leaving one side 

 completely open from the ground up. 

 The hollow in the limb connected with the 

 hollow of the trunk. Up that I shoved 

 a large armful of straw and touched it off 

 with a match, creating no fire but lots of 

 smoke. It drove the squirrels out one by 

 one. Two of them escaped into a hole 

 in the ground under a neighboring oak, 

 but a few vigorous stamps of the foot 

 soon closed that avenue of escape for 

 others. There didn't seem to be much 

 hibernating in that limb just then, for 

 squirrels kept hopping out and skipping 

 for cover in lively fashion. I couldn't, 

 load fast enough to get them all, but the 

 clogs attended to the extra ones. I hope. 

 Mr. Editor, you won't fire me into the 

 game hog stew pot for killing 14 squir- 

 rels in about 4 minutes, as these squirrels 



