Toad lickin'

I took Kodo up to Lakeview Beach to watch Brian and Teresa play their volleyball tournament. He was getting restless just sitting on the hill watching, so I decided to walk him up and down the boardwalk a little while they were playing their game. I wasn't paying as close attention as I usually do since we were nowhere near any other people or pets at that point.. Suddenly a toad hops out of a sand hollow almost right under our feet...and before I can yank Kodo back, he pounces and grabs the little (guy? girl?) in his mouth..

..only to spit him back out a fraction of a second later. Toad hops away apparently unharmed, and Kodo turns to me foaming at the mouth with the most disgusted horrific expression on his face. He spent the next couple minutes twisting his tongue around, frothing spit, and shaking sprays of foam all over everything in the vicinity trying to get rid of the (I assume) horrible taste. I rinsed his mouth with some water as best I could, and within 5 minutes the frothing had subsided and he was back to normal. I kept a close eye on him and he showed no other ill effects- except we can always hope he has learned not to pick up everything that moves in his mouth!

I did some research when I got home, since I had no idea toads even LIVED on beaches, and this guy was a different color than I was used to seeing. The common opinion seems to be that the defensive secretions of this particular type of toad are noxious but not poisonous. I will still keep an eye on Kodo for a while just to be safe of course..

Fowler's Toad

Clean ears!

Every spring/summer/early fall we have been fighting a battle with Kodo's left ear. It keeps getting yeasty, and although he hasn't gotten a full-blown ear infection yet we really try to keep on top of it so it doesn't turn into one. I have been REALLY careful to scrub his ear out every morning for the last couple weeks and medicate as necessary, and it looks like his ear was completely clean the last couple days! I know we will have to stay on top of it, but this is definitely a small victory at least...

Guarding the farm

Kodo has developed a liking for spending long periods outside (providing the weather isn't too hot). He 'patrols' the edges of the property to chase off stray bunnies, birds, and honeybees that have invaded his turf. And he lies out there, just observing, in a cool shade patch of long grass near the back of the yard. The grass and clovers are a little out of control since it has been too wet to mow the last the couple weeks, so this morning when I went to call him in, he looked like he was in a farm meadow watching over a herd of something or other... I of course had to run for the camera... :)

New bandana

"Want to go for a walk in the park?"

Kisses for daddy