A toad in my bed

I was going to sleep in until 7 this morning because I got in late last night and was anticipating an extremely busy day today. I did not get to sleep in though, and here is the reason why.

At 6 this morning I was hearing rustling sounds in my room and wondered if a kitty had spent the night. I dozed back off but a few minutes later woke again to rustling sounds. Then, I heard a flop on my mattress. My bed is a mattress on a plywood floor by the way.  I opened my eyes and there was a toad right next to my pillow, looking into my eyes. I didn't scream. :)

I guess that is what happens when you have 5 boys and move to a place where toads abound. The poem about "snakes and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of" is totally true!  My life has been inundated with snakes, toads, and puppies(we have a stray at the farm this week). It wasn't like that when I grew up with sisters! My brother at the tail end of the group did prepare me minimally to what 5 boys are capable of.

So, waking to a toad inches from my face woke me up completely. Honestly the most disturbing thing about the whole situation was that I knew I was going to have to get the thing outside by myself! Three of the boys are in Cheyenne helping with the move, and the youngest two are at a friends house. I have gotten away without touching a toad for so long because I usually have a willing boy with me. Not so this morning. It took a few minutes of steeling myself for it, and a few false starts but I was able to muster the courage and picked her up. She was cold. I had told myself to prepare for slime and wiggling and was not prepared for cold. Eew. I kept hold and walked her downstairs and quickly but not harshly let her onto the ground. Then, even quicker, I ran to the sink and washed with plenty of soap.

Isn't this aweful!!?? How can I be a farmer if I don't like toads? I guess it's not that I don't like them.  They are very valuable in the garden because they eat insects, but I just don't want to have to touch them. I am glad I usually have  boys around to take care of me. :) One of those boys (I'm pretty sure I know which one) is getting a 'talking to' next time I see him....

I had to look up on the internet if this was a frog or a toad. It was a western toad (Anaxyrus boreas).  
It had bumpy skin so I read that it was a female. That helped me connect with it a little but not enough to want to go through this again. I can totally picture the smile that my happy-go-lucky toad-planting 8 year old is going to give me when he hears about this.