Cheap Help

The Eastern American Toad, Bufo a. ameriacanus, is a organic gardener's true friend, eating as many as 10,000 pests, such as slugs, a season. Toads will not cause warts but they will give cats or dogs that bother them a nasty surprise. Toads secret a toxin, bufotoxin, from glands on their back just behind the eyes. While it is not usually deadly it certainly seems to get the message across and very few pets bother toads a second time. Toads will also puff up some times  and will pee alot. Apparently this also taste bad to predators. Toads, which hibernate during the winter, are mostly nocturnal hunters and spend the day dug into the soil. They dig in butt first using their back feet to push dirt aside. They lay their strings of eggs in shallow water every spring. The tadpoles eat vegetation while the adults are strictly carnivorous. That's the part I like! I'll be moving a few more "guests" into my gardens whenever I spot one.. This is as cheap as help gets.