I was out in the backyard one day, raking some leaves and clearing the pond with twigs and fallen branches when suddenly, something jumped out of the water. Then jumped another one. ☹️

At first, I thought it was a snake. Thick grass and a lot of scattered leaves in the garden may hide them. But I just waited and didn't move a muscle. Then something came jumping out of the leaves - they were toads covered in duckweeds. 😁

Whew! I really thought they were snakes.
I finally let out a sigh of relief 😄

Toads have been staying in the ponds and eating the insects crawling around it.
They might have jumped out of the pond when they saw me raking leaves. I might have startled them.

I grabbed them and put them back in the pond so they can continue what they were doing. 😁
Seeing them there may indicate that my garden and pond are safe from snakes. But letting them roam around may put them in danger by attracting some predators like snakes.

then, I continued cleaning the garden and around the pond. 😁