don't you just love frogs in the garden!?

[rachael simpson]

Late yesterday afternoon, I was out checking the garden & flowers before a storm came. Had boo-coodles of peppers, picked 2 to go along with supper, and came in. All we had was a lightening storm by the way, once again, no rain. This morning I go out, cut some collards, pick some crook-neck squash, cucumbers, and dig a few pototoes. Go around to pick my peppers, and guess what?? None, no peppers to be seen at all. What else do I find? 3 toad homes. Now last year, one night I caught a frog eating my peppers. Guess it came back this year and brought some friends for a "pepper" party. Oh well, so much for hot pepper with my collards..............

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Frogs eat hot peppers??? How do they reach them? Are your plants laying on the ground?

[Manelli Family]

Frogs and toads do not eat peppers.

[rachael simpson]

I wasn't just talking hot peppers, the bell peppers too. No, they are not laying on the ground. The plants are short and the peppers are hanging down towards the ground. They eat the ends off, like deer and rabbits. I'm not talking tree frogs, it's toads and bull frogs. They are big enough to reach plants you know

[rachael simpson]

I'll try to get pics later to post...................

[Billy Rose]

Lying, Joe. Lying. Unless Rachael's plants are more "active" pollinators than mine. Now run for it. Persephone will be along any minute with a rolled-up copy of the L.A. Times.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Sounds like it's time to surround the plants with something uncomfortable, like a thin piece of wood with the business ends of some staples facing straight up. I don't mind sharing some of the crop, but when the wild kingdom gets out of hand, drastic measures are called for. Now, time to go see if the squirrels have had enough strawberries. They're caged, but I leave about 10% of the patch uncovered, just to keep the lawn rats from complaining.

[rachael simpson]

ha-ha, alright, i get it, you don't believe me........why don't you just say so? I'll see about getting pics of the frogs and pepper plants after supper.........although, I did kill one frog........cooking a side of frog legs with supper.

[John McGaw]

You really should -- it might make you famous since no frog or toad I've heard of or seen documented is a herbivore (or frugivore, since a pepper really is fruit) after the tadpole stage. Oh. And make sure that the peppers in question haven't been damaged by some other likely creature like a rabbit and then gave refuge to some insects that would attract the frog. Send your pictures to experts at several universities and you may make it into at least a scholarly paper.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I believe you! I'm just saying that we each have our limits as to how much we're prepared share. If they were my plants, I'd stake them if that would keep the peppers high enough so the little bastards couldn't reach them. Or, use the aforementioned wood/staple mine field. I have toads in my garden, but I haven't attributed any damage to them, yet. When I find a toad campsite, I stick a plastic plant marker next to it so I don't massacre the creature later. I figure it probably helps me control slugs and bugs.

[Sheldon]

Right, as far as I know frogs and toads are carnivores.

[rachael simpson]

Hi, guess you didn't read *my* post. I posted to please ignore the OP on this one. Someone else posted it (and several others, as well as some emails) in my name. It's been taken care of own my end - other than my creditability with you guys.............

Rae

[JoeSpareBedroom]

"creditability"? :-)

[rachael simpson]

yeah....well.....what else would you call it? lol. in a lot of ways, it kinda made me look like an idiot, don't you think? I can assure everyone that this kind of thing won't happen anymore, though. What it boiled down to, once I found out what had taken place, was this:

student in the local early college program took a computer course, something to do with networking security. They were actually taught

*hacking*, and as a weekend assignment, they had to successfully hack into the computer of someone they knew. They were to discover the traits of the person, and then send an email or post in that person's name, while portraying that person. It turns out, they were suppose to let the person know that they were doing that, and get permission. Unfortunately for me, I was the recipient, but didn't know til it was over with. I then *punished* a boy that had been on my computer all day while I worked in the yard, only to find out that he had nothing to do with it to begin with, and i also apologized to him.

And thus was another *day of my life* LOL

Rae

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Credibility, Ms. Woman. Not "creditibility".

[rachael simpson]

sorry, thought that's what i typed.........didn't check it! i guess it doesn't always pay to type one handedly while holding fussy baby! lol

[JoeSpareBedroom]

You typed bad grammar in front of a child??? This is worse than I thought. Please be careful. We don't need another George W. Bush.

[rachael simpson]

hahaha, well she's too young for it to do irreparable damage. it's not like she can read - but she does a pretty good job of typing in another language!

[JoeSpareBedroom]

At least with regard to speech that they hear, they begin learning about 24 hours after they're born. You can wreck them pretty early in life. Then you end up with....

- She lives acrost the street.

-Alls I want is some ice cream.

-The debate's been drug out for way too long.

- Is our children learning?

[Billy Rose]

Joe, don't you have a dog you can kick or something? Bread crumb sins, bread crumb sins. Go take care of something important. Or shall we keep tabs on your syntax?