Kathy Yates is someone who loves taking walks in the neighborhood, enjoying the beauty of nature, and always with her phone in hand.
While on these relaxing hikes through the neighborhood, she’s always on the lookout for different animals in and around her yard, to capture a photo. Yates loves finding hidden gems, like a camouflaged amphibian.
In an interview, Yates had this to say: “We have toads that like to hang out under the security light in our shop, and I have a flower bed fairly close by. They either dig themselves down in the mulch of the flower bed or dig themselves into the leaves that blow in.”
The toad was lying motionless to the left of a drainpipe, with his head covered in leaves. The woman would’ve missed this amphibian if she hadn’t looked close enough, and she takes a picture, and leaves him alone.
In her interview, Yates adds: “I didn’t see him right away, but noticed him as I walked by. I let him be [because] I wanted him to feel comfortable and know it was a safe place for him.”
The toad was so in his element, hiding in plain sight, beneath the pile of leaves, tucked between leaves of various colors and sizes. Later in the day, when Yates was going through the photos that she had taken, she came to realize how difficult it was to see the little critter, making her capture even more special.
Now, when the woman passes this specific drainpipe, or the rock that’s in her garden, she’s very conscious and careful to step over or avoid the pile of leaves, just to be sure that she doesn’t step on any hidden gems.
