American Toads
American Toads are toad-ally awesome (forgive the pun!). These familiar amphibians are fan favorites of the DNRT staff, and June is a great time to see them. Found throughout eastern North America in habitats ranging from gardens and fields to forests and streams, American toads are a common sight and sound in the warmer months in Massachusetts.
Toads are variable in color and can be found in shades of brown, gray, olive, reddish-brown or nearly black. Their body color can actually change with environment, time of day, and the toad’s activities. Some studies have shown that their background colors tend to be lighter at night with more distinctive markings, and toads from higher elevations tend to be darker than toads from lower elevations.
Toads are perhaps best known for their warty skin and have been maligned for centuries by the old wives’ tale that picking one up can give the unlucky human handler warts. Happily, science has debunked this defaming myth, and it is now known that the warts on American toads are actually glands. The two largest glands, which are located behind the eyes, are capable of producing a noxious toxin that is a deterrent to some mammal species, including cats and dogs. Garter snakes, raccoons and skunks do not seem to mind the taste of toad toxins, and so are primary predators of these chubby, slow-moving amphibians.
A friend to gardeners, American toads themselves feed on slugs and beetles, as well as ants, spiders, crickets, and earth worms. They can eat up to 1,000 insects a day! Once established in an area they like, they tend to stay, so you can encourage toads to stay in your garden with a variety of native plants that attract native insects, small leaf piles, and brushy areas. American toads hibernate during the winter and usually dig backwards and hibernate in the dirt of their summer home.
Mating season in Massachusetts lasts from mid-spring to early summer and is heralded by long musical trills emitted by males in search of a mate. Eggs can be laid in vernal pools, marshes, swamps, and the shallows of rivers, and are laid in two spiraling gelatinous strands that are draped over submerged vegetation. Within two weeks the eggs hatch and tadpoles begin swimming about. Within two months of hatching, the tadpoles transform into tiny toadlets less than half an inch long and disperse to the surrounding uplands.
Right now adult American toads can be found on virtually any DNRT property with trails, and toadlets will begin hopping about soon, so keep a sharp eye out for these well-camouflaged critters and you’re likely to see (and hopefully appreciate) one.
