Mary Beasley, age 10, of St. Albans, West Virginia, for her question:
How does a toad get through the winter?
Suppose a friendly old toad spends the summer in your garden. Every so often you hear his throaty croak. Once in a while, if you stay very quiet, you may watch him catch a passing fly. But chances are, his long tongue darts in and out too fast for you to see how he does it. In winter, your squat friend is nowhere to be seen. But cheer up, he is quite safe and sound asleep.
Frogs and toads look very much alike and they do a lot of the same things. But frogs are frogs and toads are toads. They are not the same animals and they live quite different lives. For example, when winter comes both of them sink into the deep sleep of hibernation. The frogs often burrow under the mud in the bottom of a stream or pond. But, oh no, you won't find a toad in such a soggy spot.
He spends a few weeks preparing for his long winter sleep. However, you can be sure he is ready before the first frost freezes the ground. On a coolish fall day, he noses around until he finds a patch of fairly loose crumbly soil. It suits him even better if it happens to be near a tree or bush, where roots creep down through the crumbly dirt. At this time of year, the toad is extra fat and rather slow. But he sets to work with a will. He uses his big back feet to scoop out a hollow, scattering the dirt on every side. As he toils away, the scoop becomes a hole. Then the toad begins to ease his body down into the soil. He goes down backwards, scooping out more and more dirt and tossing the crumbs out to the sides.
Deeper and deeper he goes and soon the pile of dirt at the top of the burrow be¬gins to dribble down on his head. This suits him fine. When he gets down a foot or more, the tunnel to the surface is filled with loose dirt. Mr. Toad is buried underground, safely below the frost level.
No, he does not suffocate or need room to exercise. He is huddled in a toad sized den, with his hind legs tucked under his body and his nose tucked into his front paws. In no time at all, he falls asleep and gradually his body sinks into a sort of deep coma. His little heart beats slower, slower and slower. His body grows almost as cold as the cold winter ground and his temperature may drop to just one degree above freezing point. Mr. Toad is hibernating, he feels nothing and suffers no discomfort. He gets through the winter in safety and comfort.
He stays safely in hibernation all through the chilly winter. The breath of spring thaws the ground and warms his body. His heartbeat grows faster again and Mr. Toad gets the message. Its time now to dig his way upstairs and take a look at the scenery. About now, new batches of insects are beginning to hatch and the toad gets set to catch a tasty snack on his fast flicking tongue. The winter is safely over and he sensibly forgets about it until next fall.