The Intelligence of Toads

1874

The belief is common in old countries that toads live a hundred years without partaking food, for they have been found in little cavities of rocks, where is no apparent entrance to admit the animal, and hence the theory that the toad must have been there when the rock was formed, or thrown up ages ago. The toad can live a long time on water or moisture alone, as it imbibes it rapidly through its very porous skin; but that it lives thus a hundred years is totally absurd, the most reasonable solution of the problem being that a very small, almost imperceptible crack or opening at the cavity exists, through which an egg of a toad was washed in, and hatched or grew or developed into a fair-sized creature, and there lived and thrived a reasonable time on small insects which now and then crept or drifted in.

The intelligence of a toad is certainly remarkable. When an insect is too large to swallow, it thrusts the creature against a stone to push it down its throat. On one occasion, when a toad was attempting to swallow a locust, the head was down the former's throat, the hinder parts protruding. The toad then sought a stone or clod, but as none was to be found, he lowered his head and crept along, pushing the locust against the ground. But the ground was too smooth (a rolled path), and the angle at which the locust lay to the ground too small, and thus no progress was made. To increase the angle he straightened up his hind legs, but in vain. At length he threw up his hind quarters, and actually stood on his head, or rather on the locust sticking out of his mouth and, after repeating this once or twice, succeeded in getting himself outside his dinner.

On another occasion a toad was seen to dispose of an earthworm, which was so long that it had to be swallowed by sections. But while one end was in the toad's stomach the other end was coiled about his head. He waited until the worm's writhing gave him a chance, and swallowed half an inch; then taking a nip with his jaws, waited for a chance to draw in another half inch. But there were so many half inches to dispose of, that at length his jaws grew tired, lost their firmness of grip, and the worm crawled out five-eighths of an inch between each half-inch swallowing. The toad perceiving this, brought its right hand to his jaws, grasping his abdomen with his foot, and by a little effort got hold of the worm in his stomach from outside; he thus, by his foot, held fast to what he had gained by each swallow, and presently succeeded in getting the worm entirely down.