---

   Living in a remote rural area, we have more than our share of encounters with all types of wildlife. Most of the time, these experiences are interesting if not entertaining.

   Sunday morning, I poured myself a cup of coffee and with Billie close at my heals, we headed to the porch. As I approached my chair, I noticed something strange sitting in it. My wife and I have gray vinyl chairs facing out so we can watch nature and the world go by. We do not have assigned seats but always sit in the same ones. My chair had a strange looking little gray lump in the seat. It perfectly matched the color of the chair, so it took me a minute to determine it was a tree frog. We see them frequently, so I did not think much about him and sat in my wife’s chair instead. The plump little fellow was minding his own business and not bothering anything, so I left him to hunt bugs where I usually sit. Billie was out hunting squirrels and rabbits while I mindlessly watched the hummingbirds as I drank my coffee. By the time Billie got back, my coffee cup was empty, and Billie needed a reward for clearing out all the animals that attempted to invade his yard during the night. I got my refill and a treat for Billie. When I went back outside, out of habit, I sat in my chair. I immediately felt something as it moved around under my leg. I jumped up and remembered the tree frog. The poor little guy was as startled as I was and scrambled off to the back of the chair. He did not seem to be any worse for the experience of almost being squashed. I grabbed him and put him in the flower bed where he hopefully will be safer.

   This experience reminded me of the toad in the boot incident. During an unusually wet spell last year, I was keeping my tall rubber boots outside by the back door as I was wearing them almost every time I went out to do anything. We were adopted by a fat toad at about that same time. Each evening, he would hop from the flower bed at the front of the house, up the ramp to the porch and make his way the full length of the porch to the area below the bug zapper. He would spend most of the night gorging on bugs before going back to the flower bed. Billie only tried to pick him up once. That was enough to convince the curious dog that toads do not taste very good. It took a bit of foaming at the mouth and eating grass to get the nasty taste out of his mouth. One morning, I was going out to do something that would require walking through the mud and stuck my foot into my boot. My foot was almost to that point where it settles in firmly when I felt movement in front of my toes. It is surprising how fast a person can remove a boot when something alive is in there.

   Though apparently uninjured, we never saw the toad again make the evening journey across the porch. He stayed in the flower bed where it was safe, and I stored my boots in the garage to avoid any other close encounters with random wildlife.

---