George and I were hiking in
Maine in June, and it was hot, muggy and wet. I kept saying, "Watch out for animals,
George!" But we don't see anything but toads! Toads! And they are camouflaged beyond belief. You
think there's a rock or a pebble or a leaf and suddenly it's hopping out of our way. And I
don't mean a few toads. I'm talking thousands. It got me to thinking... why don't we eat
toads? We eat frogs legs. I've eaten frogs legs with butter and garlic; they're good! But
toads...why not?
What is it about toads? Do they
have a poison or something that makes people sick? Why don't we have toad stew? But if you
think of all the brews that witches mix, they put in toads, nightshade, which is a poison
plant, things like that. So maybe there is something poisonous in a toad. Come to think of
it, I don't know what the difference between a frog and a toad is anyway. And who eats
toads? Snakes? Birds? Do they have a natural enemy, a predator? Find out for me, will you?
By the way, our trail names are "Step by Step", that's me... and "George of
the Jungle", that's George. But lots of people on the trail call me "The
Dancer".
I'll tell you more about trail
names in another Tale from the Trail.
