Interrupted slumbers

I don't know who was more surprised -- the hibernating toad whose slumbers I interrupted yesterday afternoon, or me. I was digging a hole in the garden late in the day to move some of the overwintered kale plants from their low tunnel to this year's Brassica bed. I put in the shovel, lifted out the soil, and there, at the bottom of the hole was this groggy creature. It was starting to rouse by the time I returned with the camera, but I reburied it anyway, hoping the early wake-up wouldn't harm it.

I went to Wikipedia this morning to check whether this was toad or frog. The brown coloration (effective camouflage), wart-like glands on its back (also providing camouflage), and burrowing in winter (to protect their delicate skin) point to the former.

I hope it stays around. Like the leopard frog I wrote about here last July, toads help control unwanted pests in the garden.