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Creepy animals are a welcome presence in the garden

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Most of the toads we encounter here aren't dangerous, and like many nocturnal animals, toads spend their nights consuming insects.

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By KIM FRANKE-FOLSTAD | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2009

On my way out the door in the morning, I frequently stick my finger into the hanging basket on my front porch to see if it needs water.

Usually, all I get is a dirty fingernail. (Which is nasty enough.) But last week, I managed to put my finger right on top of a little toad.

Yuck. We both hopped away trying to shake off the surprise.

And yet, like many of the creepy creatures found in the garden, I know that toad is my friend. (That's friend, folks, not prince. I wouldn't go so far as to kiss the thing.)

This time of year, toads, snakes, spiders and bats take on an extra air of spookiness. But if you conquer your fear, you can really learn to appreciate their role in the garden.

Like many nocturnal animals, toads spend their nights consuming insects — anything from ants and mosquitoes to cutworms and slugs. (Also some beneficial bugs, but I try not to hold that against them.)

The big Bufo toad secretes a highly toxic milky substance that can kill cats and dogs if they ingest it, so it isn't your pal. But most of the toads we encounter here aren't dangerous.

The same goes for all of the beautiful — and not so beautiful — spiders that are forever spinning webs on my pergola and ligustrum. Most spiders aren't capable of piercing human skin, even if they do try to bite, but they have a voracious appetite for insects. And unless I happen to walk into one of those ornate webs, I think they're the best garden art.

Snakes, too, are good for the garden, because they eat rodents and insects, including crickets and grasshoppers. (I'm not sure about Penny's dreaded lubbers; I don't think anything will eat those monsters!)

Regular Dirt readers know I worried about the number of black racers I spotted in my yard early in the summer. Many readers agreed that snakes suddenly seemed to be everywhere. But racers are harmless, as are most Florida snakes, and unlike birds and squirrels, they won't take a bite out of your plants.

That leaves bats — another garden visitor I welcome, as long as I don't have to see one. At my husband's urging, we even put up a bat house. Bats love to eat lots of annoying insects, including mosquitoes and gnats.

Our bat house has yet to attract a tenant. But I just read online that fragrant night-blooming plants, such as moonflower vine, jasmine and yucca, are particularly tantalizing to bats because the scent attracts insects for pollination.

The idea of planting a "moon garden" with white flowers and fragrant plants is much more appealing than thinking about the beasts it might attract.

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