JustineNYC
New member
Don't encourage me! LOL
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My yard is infested with these guys, can you identify?
- Thread starter JustineNYC
- Start date
Ricky87
New member
The babies are usually pretty calm. They can be tough to find, but their really cool and usually they won't pee. The big ones will, though, and that can be pretty degrading.
I don't know if the 'pee' is actually pee. Don't they just release the water that they are 'holding'? I think their ability to hold that water is partially what makes it possible to leave the water and be toads.. I'm not 100% confident on that, though. It DOES come out of their butts, after all.
JustineNYC
New member
Sometimes they dont move. I picked up the top of our plastic table, which is under the deck and I didnt see anything jump, but I spotted that toad just sitting there between some rocks.
Thats how I almost stepped on one the other night, they dont really move until they have to.
The one I picked up today was 3 times the size of the one I photographed yesterday, still pretty calm....Im surprised they dont even make a noise when you pick them up.
Ricky87
New member
Wild ones are tough to feed, though. They do better in the wild, anyways, seeing as how their are few predators. At least that's the case where I live. They are really cool, though, with all their bumps and browns. Here's a few pics I took of a bigger American Toad I found in the yard. He was very calm, and didn't even pee once!.
JustineNYC
New member
Here he is where I found him....
You can see his back markings a little better....
Hes got those knobs on his back....
You can see his back markings a little better....
Hes got those knobs on his back....
Ricky87
New member
You know, I think your right. It's not pee, exactly, but it is stored water. Still, I definitely wouldn't drink it!.
Ya, and their darker so they can be tough to see. Frogs always jump so you know where they are and can step around them, but toads don't always do that. I watch where I walk anyway, but some I find are less than a few feet away when I find them. I think their just not as scared of is as frogs are, and that's why their so calm.
Ricky87
New member
They really do blend in remarkably well!. That one in particular is very dark, so it took a second for me to see him in the photo.Here he is where I found him....
You can see his back markings a little better....
Hes got those knobs on his back....
JustineNYC
New member
They do! I got scared when I saw him and then I thought he was dead.
So now, under the deck is always going to be moist, I cant do anything about that. I have the table top under there and the dogs vinyl pool rolled up.....should I remove that or just leave it?
Yesterday I found the toad family and a snake under the pool, although the snake was still a hatchling, I dont want to promote a toad buffet under the deck.
JustineNYC
New member
LOL!
When I lifted that pool and all those toads went scattering, that poor snake was probably like "Damn you lady!"
Wild snakes, or at least the ones I have encountered so far, are funny, they just take off, they dont stop and look at you, they just bolt.
Which I am grateful for anyway.
When I lifted that pool and all those toads went scattering, that poor snake was probably like "Damn you lady!"
Wild snakes, or at least the ones I have encountered so far, are funny, they just take off, they dont stop and look at you, they just bolt.
Which I am grateful for anyway.
CrousesCorns
New member
Further looking into your toads...
and using the site I linked you to before they are American Toads, not the Southern Toads. This is based on your location in Iredell County North Carolina and the distribution maps on the website. Here is it's info:
Description: As North Carolina’s largest toad, the American toad is highly variable in color and pattern. It has dry, warty skin that may be brown, gray, olive, tan, or reddish with varying degrees of mottling and dark spots. It may have a light stripe running down the middle of its back. In North Carolina, all members of the family Bufonidaehave large, oblong parotoid glands on the sides of their heads. The American toad may be distinguished from the closely related Fowler’s toad by the presence of enlarged warts on the lower section of each leg (tibia); only one or two large warts within each large dark spot on the back; usually dark mottling on the chest; more pronounced cranial crests; and parotoid glands that are either separate from the cranial crest or connected to it by a short spur. Males are smaller than females and have dark throats.
Habitats and Habits: American toads are found throughout most of the Mountains and Piedmont and in portions of the northeastern Coastal Plain. They prefer to breed in ephemeral woodland pools and other temporary wetlands, but will also use other bodies of water, from small puddles to permanent ponds and shallow backwaters of rivers. Several thousand eggs are deposited in long strings and hatch in a few days. The small blackish tadpoles develop in about eight weeks, transforming into tiny toadlets less than half an inch long. American toads may hybridize with Fowler’s and southern toads in areas where their ranges overlap.
Call: American toads breed from February to April. Their call is a long, high-pitched, musical trill, often lasting up to half a minute. Males also produce a chirping “release call” if handled or mistakenly grasped by another male.
Frog Fact: Toads are economically important because of the vast quantities of insects they consume. By eating insects that destroy crops, American toads can save farmers, horticulturists and consumers substantial amounts of money.
I know they secrete a toxin when something tries to eat it, but I have no clue how toxic it may be. Further investigation might help.
Hope this helps you and solves the ID part. The website for all things like this is http://www.herpsofnc.org/
and using the site I linked you to before they are American Toads, not the Southern Toads. This is based on your location in Iredell County North Carolina and the distribution maps on the website. Here is it's info:
Description: As North Carolina’s largest toad, the American toad is highly variable in color and pattern. It has dry, warty skin that may be brown, gray, olive, tan, or reddish with varying degrees of mottling and dark spots. It may have a light stripe running down the middle of its back. In North Carolina, all members of the family Bufonidaehave large, oblong parotoid glands on the sides of their heads. The American toad may be distinguished from the closely related Fowler’s toad by the presence of enlarged warts on the lower section of each leg (tibia); only one or two large warts within each large dark spot on the back; usually dark mottling on the chest; more pronounced cranial crests; and parotoid glands that are either separate from the cranial crest or connected to it by a short spur. Males are smaller than females and have dark throats.
Habitats and Habits: American toads are found throughout most of the Mountains and Piedmont and in portions of the northeastern Coastal Plain. They prefer to breed in ephemeral woodland pools and other temporary wetlands, but will also use other bodies of water, from small puddles to permanent ponds and shallow backwaters of rivers. Several thousand eggs are deposited in long strings and hatch in a few days. The small blackish tadpoles develop in about eight weeks, transforming into tiny toadlets less than half an inch long. American toads may hybridize with Fowler’s and southern toads in areas where their ranges overlap.
Call: American toads breed from February to April. Their call is a long, high-pitched, musical trill, often lasting up to half a minute. Males also produce a chirping “release call” if handled or mistakenly grasped by another male.
Frog Fact: Toads are economically important because of the vast quantities of insects they consume. By eating insects that destroy crops, American toads can save farmers, horticulturists and consumers substantial amounts of money.
I know they secrete a toxin when something tries to eat it, but I have no clue how toxic it may be. Further investigation might help.
Hope this helps you and solves the ID part. The website for all things like this is http://www.herpsofnc.org/
CrousesCorns
New member
I didn't read the entire thread and Tom found the Davidson Herp. Departments website. It's a great website for all Herps of North Carolina and Neighboring states.
http://www.herpsofnc.org/
JustineNYC
New member
I should have picked up the big fat black toad, I wonder if he was the same species. He was scarey looking so I left him alone LOL