American Toad

[blackcatofmisery]

My mom said there was "a toad under the garden hose," which I assumed meant, like, inside the hose housing, but I didn't see anything. 💔

Stepping outside again a few minutes later, I spotted it from a distance.



It's under the barest little overhang, where the hose sits on a rock. Chillin'. It's very well camouflaged among the mulch, but I just wanted to see it that badly, I guess.

(I don't know what subspecies of toad it is, but I'd assume Eastern American Toad, just because I live in Wisconsin.)

Comments

[lilysea]

Hurrah! ^_^

What IS the difference between frogs and toads?

are toads less dependent on water as adults, or ...?

[susanreads]

I was just reading that toads walk and frogs hop. I don't know what else.

[pameladean]

The distinction isn't hard and fast, and there are gray areas, but overall, as you say, toads don't need a nearby body of water because their skin retains it better. Frogs basically live in the water, though they leave it to forage or bask. Generally, frogs are smooth and toads are bumpy; frogs have long hind legs and jump far, whereas toads have shorter hind legs and either travel in short hops or actually walk. The only example I can think of offhand that is right in the middle and confusing is the sedge frog.

P.

[lysytsya]

Aww, he looks adorable just chillin’.

[shirebound]

He/she looks quite pleased with this cool and sheltered spot.

[emeraldarrows]

Aw, cute!

[cmcmck]

What a handsome fellow (or fellow-ess) :o)

[yourlibrarian]

Lots of color to this one. Usually it's frogs that have all the fancy clothes.

[lizardjay]

I love this! Any second now it's going to get a big splash with that water drop :D

[allekha]

Great picture of a great toad :D

[pameladean]

That's an excellent toad. P.

[scytale]

What a beauty!

[adafrog]

Cool!

[calzephyr]

That's a great close-up. Their pattern has so much neat stuff going on with it.

[kaishin108]

What a great photo of this lil guy! :)

[littlewolfteeth]

Awww, I love toads! 💙

[jazzyjj]

I don't think the pic of this toad is being detected by my screen reader, but I'll take everyone's word for it that this guy/gal is adorable. My final assignment for a college-level biology class in 2010 was to write a paper about the American toad. I didn't fair so well in the rest of the class, but the professor loved my paper and gave me high praise on it. Everyone else had to write a paper as well, but they took photos. Since photos aren't necessarily my thing, I was asked to record the sounds of various frogs and toads. My parents did this with me, and it was very cool. I think the cassette tape might've gotten lost in the shuffle when I moved in December, but I really enjoyed the project.

[egret]

So cute!

[citrakayah]

What a lovely toad.

[zenigotchas]

HE'S SO CUTE. I hope he has a good day.