mooky Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 What a very 'sad' person I am. I have just spent a couple of hours watching toads mating!They are the biggest toads I have ever seen. Honestly the size of a small chicken! They are in a ditch near me, there must be fifty odd couples.My pond is three yeard old now; and I don't seem to get any, are they so selective? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie girl Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Yes they are because they know that if they come to your pond you\d have your beady eyes on them 24/7 [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 23, 2008 Author Share Posted February 23, 2008 Honest I'm not a pervy, just a peeping Mooky; Nature is so wonderful though, I can't help but look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie girl Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 It is that Mooky, it is that [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Generally common toads return to the water that they were "born" in to reproduce so their homing mechanism takes them from their winter quarters in a more or less straight line to their birth place missing out your pond. Most amphibians are the same, one major exception being the "green frogs" particularly marsh frogs.What do you have in your pond?Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 newpictures061.jpg Hi Chris.I have a small pond that is very healthy. I have a newt, several other little creatures including two tiny fish. All the original mud, water came from the three rivers I have within a minute of me. I live on a triangle in the middle. I get lots of toads walking across the room I am in now. The house was empty for ten years, and several species of wildlife visit still. It is a wildlife pond so I don't choose what goes in it.I tried to put a piccy on here, but I don't think it has worked. I will try again; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 How to post a photograph:http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/819635/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Chris would it be bad for the frogs if mookey took some spawn and put it in his pond to start the cycle off ? I know what you mean mookey I sit out there watching mine mate, lay spawn, hatch , grow legs ect, every year, it is fasinatingI have 3 big blobs in my pond so far but will have a lot more in a few weeks , cant wait to see you pic of these chicken sized ones !!. I saw some mighty big ones in france but sadley they were squashed on the road. [:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 Dear PadsMooky is a she. xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 [quote user="mooky"]Dear PadsMooky is a she. xx[/quote]Well how do you do Mooky nice ta meet ya !![:)] Did you manage to sort your photos ? Id love to see them.We were in the garden of a resturant near Carcassone one night and we could hear this amazing noise coming from a pond, I wandered over to have a look to see what it was, put every time I got near I could hear plop pop and they were gone, so never got to see them. the waiter said they were bull frogs and were the size of dinner plates, I keep nagging hubby to take me back there, but he hasnt recoved from the size of the bill, to go back there yet !![:)]I love frogs and toads and newts and have 100s all over my garden, every time you turn over some thing there is one underneath. I found a little newt making his way up the drive to the pond the other morning, he had gotten a little dehydrated and needed a lift for the last 20 foot, but soon recoved once in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 [IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n140/Mooky_011/newpictures061.jpg[/IMG]I have tried and tried the photo thing. I will keep trying until it works. It wasn't actually a piccy of the toads. I will take some this evening.May I share some wonderful moments with you all. I came to France on my own five years ago; and just don't seem to have made many friends. So I spend all day/night on my own. I think my children are getting fed up with me emailing to say I've seen this and that so please indulge me a little.Today I have seenA beautiful toad actually ejecting her long slithery cord of eggs.8 most beautiful Snakes Head Fritillaty by the river;A ladysmock flowerand baby copyu playing with their mother.All just wonderful, but so nicer to share with someone.picture link repaired by a mod (when posting a picture, include both [img] tags in your link) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 You seem to enjoy the same things as me , I love to walk up to my field where I have a couple of deer , a badger and the owls use it as a hunting ground in the evening. I take a blanket on a summers evening and a bottle of wine and just lie down and watch the sun set and if im lucky will see one of them going about there busniess. we have sown a wild meadow up there and just have it cut once a year as hay , so I can lay up there and hide from the world for a few hours. other times I walk the dog down the river path, and 3 times in 9 years have to treated to the sight of otter on the bank. the flower life around here is magic, snakes head fritillaty and granny bonnets are my 2 of my favorite flowers, I grow both in my garden. You should take some photos of the ones you see to share on the photo thread, Loads of us love to see them, Id love to see the copyu babies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 8 most beautiful Snakes Head Fritillary by the river;Any chance I could be boring and ask you what river and where? This is one of the plants where the locations and numbers are being recorded for the Poitou-Charentes region and it may well not have been visited by someone.Back later, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 Hi ChrisThey are by the River Boutonne; Nr Chef Boutonne, 79 just past the mill on the way to St. Martin D'Entraigues. There is evidence of more plants than the eight in several positions along there. Also by the Boutonne path from St Martin to Fontenille in a marshy bit of land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 Hi ChrisThey are by the River Boutonne; Nr Chef Boutonne, 79 just past the mill on the way to St. Martin D'Entraigues. There is evidence of more plants than the eight in several positions along there. Also by the Boutonne path from St Martin to Fontenille in a marshy bit of land. Can I help at all take photos or give better details of how to find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 That's brilliant, thanks mooky. Not really clear where this bit is.... "Also by the Boutonne path from St Martin to Fontenille in a marshy bit of land".Is all the riverside public access?Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 [IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n140/Mooky_011/hemmyshome072.jpg[/IMG]Photo link edited by a mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tressy Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I've got no idea what you did wrong there mooky.[:D]All you need to do is click on the bottom/last link of the 3 or 4 options photobucket gives you. Press 'Control' and 'C', at the same time, then return to your message here, and click 'Control' and 'P'. Only the code will appear, until you post, then image will appear in your message.I love your owl, by the way.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted March 1, 2008 Author Share Posted March 1, 2008 Thank you TressyPhotobucket don't give me 3/4 options.I think I may have succesfully loaded a photo (albeit the wrong way round) on antiques craft section. The owl has caused me a few problems. I got it from Emmaus for 5 euro. I sent my brother a copy of the photo. He placed the pic in a national mag he has dealings with, and he felt a bit silly when I sent a picture to the mag too [IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n140/Mooky_011/hemmyshome001.jpg[/IMG] Now I feel silly because I have just realised I haven't put the correct 'too' on the caption.Chris I am going to look at Snakes Head again tomorrow. So I will tell you how many there are.photo link edited by a mod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 It's good to see our toads and frogs returning to spawn, but for the second year running, we are finding mutilated bodies everywhere. Single bite marks, half eaten and most collected in to small piles/larders. Saturday found a mound of five bodies together with 20 or so acorns. Removed them and then Sunday morning the mound had returned to exactly the same place. Sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 What is doing it micheal ? Do you know ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Hello Pads......I wish I knew. It was even worse last Spring, mounds of bodies all over the lake. I guess it is either american mink or coypu. I know that coypu are vegetarian, but possibly they will eat meat, especially in winter, when fresh green growth is in short supply. I have seen coypu caught in traps baited with just meat and the bait was always eaten. Who can say that they will not resort to an abundant food supply, particularly when hungry. Unfortunately, both species are not indigenous and shouldn't be here. Very sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Musk rat!!!It's typical.[:D]Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Thanks Chris..............research here I come.Mooky......... love the Snakeshead Fritillary, what a beautiful plant. Would love to see one here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Excuse the rather short reply yesterday, I was rushing. It is 99% sure to be Musk rat, what you have found are the typical remains that they leave behind, usually within a few metres of the waterside. Other typical bits and pieces are freshwater shellfish and crayfish, for some reason they have a "can't be bothered" approach to food and frequently leave a large proportion of edible remains behind.If you should get any photos of the spoil heap I could always use some more examples.[;-)]Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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