You see, toads were my favorite critter when I was a boy, and I thought their cousins the frogs got way more attention than they deserved. Toads weren't slippery, were much cuter and didn't seem to mind hanging around for a while. And I was living proof that the myth about catching warts from toads was untrue.

Late spring each year you could find me searching the small ponds of the nearby hills and dales for tadpoles. Once I had located the sites, I would visit often to watch the changes as they slowly began to sprout legs and get shorter tails.

When the time was right I would make my move and collect the best toadlets to take home to the combo aquarium/terrarium I had concocted. Once they were ready to leave the water for good, I would move them to my mother's flower gardens and shrubbery beds.

The rest of the summer there were plenty of toads around the neighborhood, and I could watch them get bigger. Eventually, I wouldn't see as many. I figured some moved on to better gardens, though I also was aware that snakes loved toad filet for dinner.

One morning my worst nightmare came true when I saw a garter snake devouring a toad, feet first. I couldn't stand the sight and wasn't about to let it continue. The toad's head and front legs were still visible, so I grabbed the snake and tried to pull the toad free. No way. It wouldn't budge.

With time running out, sliding into desperation, I decided the only way to free the toad was to kill the snake. It was a major decision, because I really didn't mind reptiles and the only thing I had against garter snakes was that they ate toads.

Anyway, I did the deed and liberated the toad. Its back legs were bloodied up but it didn't seem to have any fatal damage. I taped up the leg wounds and returned it to the garden. But I never again saw a toad with bandaged hind legs, so who knows what happened to it.

When I was older I would debate whether I was right to interfere with the course of nature by killing the snake and freeing the toad. And then I realized, silly me, that humans are intervening in nature's way every minute of the day, or that we can't interfere at all because we are part of nature.

The most fun was the hop toad races. Toads aren't known for their speed; they're very deliberate and tend to hop only when they feel like hopping. So you draw a four-foot circle in the dirt and put two toads of similar size in the middle. The first one to leave the circle wins.

They weren't the kind of races you hung around to watch. It wasn't like you could put a bug on a stick and lure the toads to hop a little more quickly. Sometimes it would take an hour or more to have a winner. My friends would say that only a toad lover could enjoy such a pastime.

When I tried pitting frogs against my fastest toads, it wouldn't even be close. The frogs would win easily, but they would get so filthy and sticky jumping in the dirt.

To this day frogs get most of the compassion. You don't hear about people going out on the highway in the spring to help toads cross the road safely. It's always the frogs. But not for me. I've often nearly wrecked my car trying to avoid a big toad on the pavement at night. I don't take such chances for frogs.

Nowadays, with all the studies about the effect of pollution and other factors on amphibians, it seems like it is always the frogs that get the publicity. Mutant frogs get deformed legs or sexual abnormalities from pesticides, studies show, but you never hear about experiments with toads.

There probably are several reasons why there aren't as many toads as there used to be. There's urban sprawl, not as many wild ponds — and there's pollution. Scientists say the pesticide atrazine, which causes frog deformities and can be fatal for toads, may be one major culprit.

I never thought I would long for the old days when toads had to worry the most about garter snakes hiding in the weeds. I dare say, there probably aren't as many snakes, either.

Anyway, if you're fortunate enough to see a toad, wish it well — and good luck.

Cary Brunswick is managing editor of The Daily Star. He can be reached at cary@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7217.