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Show Small Bovs Still Make Pets of Toads A toad's bumps are- 1WTEWD&D TO MAKE- HIM HARD TO S&e of meat or bits of " egg, stir the food with a toothpick so the toad will eat it. Raw liver is a delicacy deli-cacy for a toad and they like candy, but they won't touch these things unless they are in motion. Starchy foods give toads a tummy-ache. tummy-ache. rJ1OADS do not require heat. They like cold weather and so if you're going on a vacation, put your toad in the refrigerator. He'll sleep while you're gone and be as lively as ever after you return, even If you are away several weeks. They do not require much food. Bumps on the toad's skin are not warts and, contrary to superstition, super-stition, toads do not cause warts. The bumpy skin is simply camouflage camou-flage which enables a toad to look like a piece of ground and avoid his enemies. When your toad pet gets the size of a hen's egg, set him free in your garden near a pool and provide pro-vide a small cave at the edge of BY ROY L. WARREN JN one way, small boys haven't changed since the days of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Maybe today's boys read comic books and listen to soap operas but underneath they're the same fellows. Maybe they don't have some of the bad habits of their grandparents, but they still like to make pets of snakes, toads and turtles. But a boy ought to use caution about snakes. Some of them are bad medicine. Turtles have a way of nipping fingers. But a toad now there is an admirable creature! crea-ture! If you don't think so, take the word of Paul Kirsten, who lives in the state of Washington. Paul isn't a boy, he's a man, but he raises toads and tree frogs as a hobby and he thinks they're about as sensible a pet as any you can think of. JACK in 1929 Mr. Kirsten decided de-cided to raise toads. The earwig, ear-wig, an insect pest, was swarming over everything and Mr. Kirsten decided that the toad would be an ideal creature to gobble up these bugs. The -toad likes earwigs as well as a boy likes candy and bubble gum, and the toad eats his meals at night when the earwig ear-wig flies around. Toads are easy to raise. A single mother will lay as many as 60.000 eggs. They hatch as tadpoles who live like fish in the water, shedding shed-ding their tails as they grow older and grow legs. When the toads are only half an inch long, they are put into a pen where they feed on flies. In one pen Mr. Kirsten has 5.000 of these amphibians which is the technical name for the family to which toads and frogs belong. Not all grow up. Disease and accidents cost the lives of many but 1,000 of them are pretty certain to survive. While growing toads to get rid of an insect pest, Mr. Kirsten carried car-ried some of them into the house and let them hop around his desk. Him 11 He enjoyed their company and every day afterwards, he took toads in the house. They also liked his company and they especially enjoyed radio music. Finally Mr. Kirsten tried to train toads, with some success. JESIDES growing amphibians, Mr. Kirsten makes and sells terrariums which are parks or places for keeping small animals. These are miniature landscapes with moss and tiny trees growing in them. Home-made ones can be fitted into a box or a basket with a screen over the top to keep the animals from hopping out. Mr. Kirsten says toads, like pigeons, dogs and bats, have a homing instinct. When first captured cap-tured they should be kept confined for about two weeks. After that time they'll come "home" after running loose at night. The oldest known toad is 48 years old. They seem to show no signs of aging and no one knows how long they would survive' if they lived a life free of accidents. But toads are a choice morsel of food for many other creatures. Toads eat only living bugs, worms and insects. They will not attempt to devour anything that is not moving. Insects seem to know this and often "play dead" When dropped near a toad. Once fcT) insect moves, he's a goner. When you offer a toad scraps I A TOAD IS EASY TO KEErP-vZsr KEErP-vZsr PUT HM A T-S (OH; YEAH? SAYS MOM) the pool for his home. He'll take care of himself and destroy many harmful insects. He'll probably live there the rest of his life. A toad is somewhat different from a frog. A frog must have water all his life and will die if his skin dries. This is because the moisture in the frog's skin helps him breathe through the pores. |