The Adventures of Ichabod and Mrs. Toad (Part 1) - First Impressions

Hello once again to my friends across the world! Sincere apologies that I haven't posted in such a long time, but this last month has been a whirlwind of traveling and work and it's been hard to keep my head above water.

"I'm not here by choice"

"This isn't a real flower?"

But! One thing that's really helped keep me sane for the last week or so are my two new roommates. Say hello to my new pet toad and....um.....beetle? I'm honestly not sure what this thing is suffice to say it's a pretty cool bug that broke into my apartment one day. The toad still does not have a real name but I've thrown around Mrs. Toad, Buffy (Bufo.....get it bio lovers?), and Guanyin after the Chinese goddess. She (I also arbitrarily decided it was a she after googling 'how to sex a toad' got really iffy really fast) is kind of cranky. I mean, to be fair, I'd be upset too if some giant picked me up off the street and decided to enslave me in a tupperware container for his pleasure.

But she's learning to love me. The same cannot be said for the bug, Ichabod, who was already in the dog house for showing up in my apartment uninvited and then announcing his presence by flying at my face only seconds after I walked in the door. I'm trying to teach him how to make better first impressions but he usually ends up just biting me when I hold him... Anyway, these two have worked their way into my daily routine now and the story of how we came to cohabitate is worth telling.

For the sake of clarity, let me start from the beginning and tell you all how I came to be in such great company...

One beautiful Chongqing evening, Erik, Derrick, and I were walking home from a friend's house in the heart of the city. I'm serious, we were a good hour away from what anyone could call the 'wilderness' so wildlife was the last thing any of us expected to find. Nonetheless, as we wound our way up a narrow street, Erik spotted this city-slickin' toad hopping down the sidewalk with the same self-important air that all urban walkers eventually adapt. I couldn't understand why Erik was pointing to a rock until the rock jumped and my hunter instincts kicked in. I snatched her up and quickly reached the conclusion that this would be a  perfect new pet for me to have: she doesn't need a lot of space, I can feed her any of the bugs that I find in my apartment or on the street, she'll be quiet. 

So I (literally) pocketed the toad and made the journey back to my apartment which was about a half an hour cab ride. During which, I discovered that my jacket lining actually extends all the way up to my shoulder because that's where this little beauty got herself stuck while frantically trying to escape the dry, fuzzy hell of my pocket. After a slightly tense cab ride in which I had a rather successful conversation with the driver despite fighting with my new friend, we arrived outside my building. I immediately took off my jacket to get her out of it, but she had wedged herself up in one corner and then inflated her squat little body so that she was almost impossible to move. I resolved to popping her out when I reached my apartment which actually required me turning my whole jacket inside out.

Finally, I get her settled in her new home, an old pot that I found when I first moved in. Not exactly a luxurious new home, but the other option was my bathroom sink until I could buy her a cage tomorrow. I didn't trust her to stay put in the sink and I pictured her plummeting to the tile floor in the night so the pot seemed like a good idea. Plus, it would retain moisture for her toady skin and it had a solid lid with a hole in it that I figured was heavy enough to contain her...I should have listened to Ian Malcolm: 

"Life....finds a way"

To be continued....

Love always,

Jared

Part 2