OK, so I've ranted frequently about doing battle with deer, raccoons, groundhogs (so cute!), but this may be the last straw. I had a perfectly lovely linaria alpina planted in a container on my porch, which was part of my ongoing experiment to see which of the traditionally 'alpine' plants will adapt to Midwestern conditions (answer turns out to be: 'not many'). The linaria alpina was actually doing fine (see pictures below), though not as floriferous as you see in google images in more appropriate settings. But this morning, I found him withered and lying next to the planter. I assumed the usual suspects (squirrels, groundhogs, raccoons, etc). I went to replant him and started to scratch away a clump of soil in the midst of the spot where he used to reside, but the clump of 'soil' wiggled at the touch of my finger - turned out to be a toad! Of course, I was startled to an unmanly degree (my wife, sadly, watched the entire episode). I regained my composure and have replanted my sad little fellow elsewhere, though looks like a goner. The toad never moved and still sits where I found him this morning. I can only assume the toad dislodged the plant in the process of making some sort of nesting hole in my planter. So, is this garden thuggery typical behavior of toads? Or is this guy just a particularly churlish character? He's actually kind of cute - is there any reason I can't just let him stay there? He obviously seems to have made himself completely at home there.
