Haiku 6 Bertha. Bufo bufo, the common toad.

ruminate
cogitate
sitting in the toadflax

*****

Meet Bertha, a common toad who was not ‘common’ at all. Bertha lived or I should say, shared my garden patio outside my kitchen back door, with me, for seven years until she died. She is now buried in my garden as she deserved a little ceremony for giving me so much joy for those years, which was a while ago now, but I thought I would share her life with you, as I still miss her, and I think about her often.

When I became aware of Bertha she was already an adult toad, so I suspect she was about 10 years old when she died, which is about average for a wild toad. I had encountered toads in my garden before over the years, and one made its home in the greenhouse for a time.
But Bertha was different. She decided to move in. I first encountered her in the outside loo, which was where the original loo was for our Victorian property. The loo still works, but it is not used much as the spiders are in a league of their own in there! Perhaps this was what attracted Bertha.

There was a gap in the wooden door at the base, so she obviously had decided to go in there exploring. I left her to it, as I knew she would find her own way out.

Well, she did find her own way out, but she decided to stay on the patio, as it had a small water dish, and the next day I found her lazily swimming in it. Then I found her the following day sleeping in a garden flower pot.

She stayed the summer. And she grew. When we got to the winter she went in the outside loo again, and hunkered down in the corner. Hmm. We can do better than that I thought, so we made a toad home for her out of an old shoe box, and I placed some dried leaves in there for her so she could hibernate. I placed this in the loo out of the drafts in the back corner on the ground and next time I looked she had gone in it and was asleep in the leaves.

There she remained until the spring, and I was next aware of her having a soak in the water dish when it had warmed up. I thought she would follow her nature and look for a breeding ground else where, but she didn’t leave.

She stayed…for the next seven years. Her favourite food was woodlice, ants and spiders. I got slugs for her but she ignored those. She used to catch flies out of the air with her tongue.

This image shows her in the August of one year, when she was at her optimum size. All summer she used to just eat and eat, then spend the afternoon snoozing in her favourite spot by the back door, gradually digesting the night’s feast, lounging about in the toadflax plant.

She was quite happy, and never afraid when I used to sit down with her. I used to talk to her, and her head used to come up, as she recognised my voice. She got used to my camera.

When she got stuck between two pots or couldn’t quite reach something, or any other scrape she got herself in I used to rescue her. She knew I would. She quite often used to just sit in my lap or in my hands, snoozing away.

There was something uniquely special about this time in my life. Foxes used to visit the garden and we helped a vixen regain her health as well at this time. But they never bothered Bertha or hurt her. I guess the toxins in a toad’s skin tells them that is not a good idea, but I have known foxes throw a frog about just for play! But they left Bertha alone.

Bertha used to make me laugh with her antics and the way I ended up basically being her servant. Fresh water each day and sometimes extra lunch for her when I came across it.

Her eyes were so beautiful. The way her little hands used to hold onto my fingers seemingly affectionately. She had this uncanny knack of knowing exactly what the weather was going to do, and timed her hibernation to perfection. Each year she went into the outside loo and slept in her box. But sometimes if it was a mild winter she would come out early and find a snack. One of these occasions was on a Christmas Day. But being near the house, I guess the patio was a few degrees warmer than the rest of the garden. She only went back in that year to her box when it started to snow. A toad in snow is a sight to see, but she took it in her stride.

But eventually there came a day when I knew she was not well. She wanted to get back to her toad box in the loo, but could not. She looked up at me, so I carried her in.

I knew it would not be long. A few hours later she died peacefully, and I buried her in the garden, safely under an Angel statue, that could not be moved easily. She deserved to go back to nature.

I missed her terribly. But sometimes..I can sense her on my garden patio. And most of all, I am so grateful for the privilege that was granted me to be able to spend part of my life with this beautiful creature, who delighted my soul. Thank you Bertha.

Bertha was my Wunderkind. She was a special toad. When you look back at events or a time in your life such as this with a wild creature that decides to spend so much time with you, you realise how lucky you were. These times do not come often.

So I have chosen this track by Alana Morissette, “Wunderkind” from the film, “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”, as sometimes my garden has a quality of Narnia about it, and there is no doubt in my mind if Bertha is anywhere, she is there, in her own Narnia.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNxuI61ICmQ

And if you would like to see more of my work, have a look at my website at:

www.shelleyturnerpoetpix.com

Update 26th October 2024.

Thank you everybody for all your lovely comments about Bertha. I am so pleased she has been 'Explored', as she deserves all the love for being the beautiful creature that she was and the joy she gave me in allowing me to share her life.
Truly, caring for each other and the wildlife around us is the most important task in this world that we can do.
Thank you with all my love, Shell x

Taken on: August 26, 2014

Tags:

Common Toad, Bufo bufo

European Toad

Haiku Poetry

Shelley Turner Poetpix

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Camera:	Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR
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Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	29.1mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
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