Word: toadding
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...boys to fell trees, lay bricks, mix concrete, build walls, weave baskets. It also likes them to study nature in field and forest. Last week British scientific circles were buzzing over just how far Clayesmore will go. The school had suddenly emerged as a full-fledged authority on the toad...
Garters & Shorts. To gauge the size of the migration, the boys spent morning after morning counting corpses before classes. But keeping track of the live toads proved infinitely more difficult. The boys tried putting elastic garters on them, only to find that the toads could easily shake them off. Then they tried painting the toads, but no paint would stay. They even tried sewing little numbered "running shorts" on them, soon discovered that clothing a wriggling toad in the dark, often in heavy rain and cold weather, is just about impossible. Finally, "with some reluctance." they hit upon the idea...
Through the 21 to 75 days it takes all the toads to complete their migration, night patrols watched in all weathers. They learned that the male toads outnumbered the females two to one, that the males walked while the females hopped as well. They also learned that in a 24-hour period of the migration, the average toad covers at least three-quarters of a mile, that he will refuse to eat en route, no matter how many worms are dangled in front of him. Occasionally the males fight over a female, and the fights sometimes turn into a regular...
...They Know? The habits of the toad are certainly mysterious. Why is it that they always insist on climbing over an obstacle, even when it would be far easier to go under? And how do they know where their breeding ground is? They seem to follow no particular leader, nor do they travel in processions or with any apparent system whatsoever. To find out whether they might be following their sense of smell, the boys smeared the toads' nostrils with Vaseline, but the uncooperative toads promptly wiped...
...there are many puzzles the boys could not solve. But after four years they did collect enough data for Teacher Moore to write a learned paper. Last week Clayesmore got its reward: its final report-"Some Observations on the Migration of the Toad (Bufo Bufo Bufo)"-filled the entire current issue of no less a publication than the British Journal of Herpetology. Said Headmaster D. P. M. Burke proudly: "A valuable educational experience. Just the sort of thing we are trying to encourage at Clayesmore." Next project for the boys: the autumn migration of the toad...