Holy Crap-O!

James was very diligently sweeping our front patio last week, when he also decided to get rid of the pile of leaves that had built up behind our gate on the roadside. Twigs and leaves were clogging up the drainpipe there, so he gave that a good brush-out, too. Only something wouldn't budge... (CLICK ON THE PHOTOS! THEY TRULY WILL ENLARGE! OR YOUR MONEY BACK)

This little chappy -- actually, he was a fat old thing -- was desperately trying to get up the pipe. He didn't have much luck; the best he could manage was one leg off the ground before he slid back out. We thought he'd eventually give up and hop off, but a few hours later he was still wedged in there. Just then -- phew! -- a man popped over from the pub (word truly travels fast here...) and rescued the toad in the hole, returning him to a pond across the road.

This is no ordinary warty old amphibian -- or maybe it is. I was told by a Knowledgeable Jersey Bean that although descended from the plain ol' Common Toad, these toads have adapted to their surroundings and so are now a slightly new and improved make and model. However, I just Googled it and discovered (according to the Jersey Zoo) that the Jersey Toad is indeed just the regular version -- but is somewhat unusual in that it only inhabits one of the Channel Islands.

However, also according to the Jersey Zoo, the toad population has been declining steadily in recent years -- so perhaps we were lucky to see this fella trying to make his home in our drainpipe. The Jersey-French word for it is crapaud (pronounced crap-o), although I quite like the scientific name, too... Bufo Bufo. Sounds kinda like a tribal greeting or something.

While we happen to be on the subject of amphibians, but in the unlikely chance that anyone is still reading this, there actually is a native amphibian here in Jersey -- the Agile Frog. And it just happens to reside in only one single place on the Island -- right here in Ouaisne. The Agile Frog is very small and surely quite spry -- while the Crapaud, on the other hand, is rather ungainly and, as you saw in the above photos, not quite so nimble.

Bufo Bufo, goodbye and goodnight.