The Dangers of Country Life, III
Jan. 9th, 2009 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
olorielOk.
Early this afternoon, I found a live shrew in the kitchen.
A tiny little shrew.
The cats were somewhere outside at the time; still I put the mouse outside, too (within seconds the cats materialised on the terrace), but I could see the shrew disappearing beyond the terrace walls, and apparently it disappeared under the snow afterwards. Either that or the cats ate it whole; at any rate they didn't bring it to our door. ('náro did bring a dead sparrow to the door today, which I only found out because he kept making the typical sounds a cat makes when it's tried to eat a bird and found out that there's lots of fluff and little meat on a sparrow.)
NOW I find a tiny toad.
I assume it's tried to hibernate somewhere in the barn, amidst the firewood, and came inside when the wood came inside. At any rate, now I have a tiny little toad. (The cats haven't found it yet, and I'm keeping watch on it.)
How do I take care of a toad so it survives until Spring? Does anyone have experience with this?
EDIT: Ok, apparently a bucket filled with compost, dead leaves and twigs would be a good hibernation place. I have all of that outside.
I'll probably need a chisel and hammer to get it into bucket-sized lumps, though.
EDIT II: Right. Filled a bucket with earth and twigs, and put it in the dark, damp cellar. We find toads there all the time (in Spring, at any rate), so I assume it's good environment for toads. However they get there, wtf.
Early this afternoon, I found a live shrew in the kitchen.
A tiny little shrew.
The cats were somewhere outside at the time; still I put the mouse outside, too (within seconds the cats materialised on the terrace), but I could see the shrew disappearing beyond the terrace walls, and apparently it disappeared under the snow afterwards. Either that or the cats ate it whole; at any rate they didn't bring it to our door. ('náro did bring a dead sparrow to the door today, which I only found out because he kept making the typical sounds a cat makes when it's tried to eat a bird and found out that there's lots of fluff and little meat on a sparrow.)
NOW I find a tiny toad.
I assume it's tried to hibernate somewhere in the barn, amidst the firewood, and came inside when the wood came inside. At any rate, now I have a tiny little toad. (The cats haven't found it yet, and I'm keeping watch on it.)
How do I take care of a toad so it survives until Spring? Does anyone have experience with this?
EDIT: Ok, apparently a bucket filled with compost, dead leaves and twigs would be a good hibernation place. I have all of that outside.
I'll probably need a chisel and hammer to get it into bucket-sized lumps, though.
EDIT II: Right. Filled a bucket with earth and twigs, and put it in the dark, damp cellar. We find toads there all the time (in Spring, at any rate), so I assume it's good environment for toads. However they get there, wtf.
