Since I was a little girl I have loved toads. Slower than frogs, they were easier to catch and even though I don’t handle them now (other than moving them away from the mower), I’m happy for their reduced capacity to flee. People generally think of them as being just ‘brown’, but they have quite the array of colors –
These were all taken in the spring and summer of 2021 in my yard. Quite the population! In a few of the pictures you can see the bumpy formations on the feet that help with digging. One is partly buried in one of my flower pots. They can dig quite fast and seem to melt into the soil. That’s how they survive the winter – by digging in below the frost layer. On hot days they dig in to stay cool and keep from drying out. I find little holes in the grass from their activity.
None of these was particularly large – all between 1 and 2 inches. They were singing their heads off earlier in the spring so no doubt come August the tiny toadlets will be out and about. In the mean time I’ll continue to watch for and watch out for my local toads.
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