Toads

For those of you who don't know me well ... who am I kidding, both people who read this know me well. So AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, I've always been into anything that crawls, slithers, or hops. Last weekend we visited my parents in Pima, AZ. This time of year, when it rains, that little town is hoppin! Toads everywhere. Last year we caught a small Red-Spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus) named Sedona, who was a valued member of our family for 9 months before dying of symptoms related to too much Nathan love. So this trip gave us a chance to pick up a couple replacements, and catch and realease hundreds more.


Nathan gets the award for catching the largest toad. He is fearless and loves small animals possibly even more than his daddy. This one is a large Sonoran Desert Toad (Ollotis alvaria). Definitely too big to take home, but fun to chase and catch.

Here is our new Red-Spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus). She is larger than the one from last year, so maybe she will survive Nate's play a bit better. We've named her Sedona's Big Sister, or Sedona II. I've noted she can jump out of the terrarium if the lid is left off, so hopefully that will not attribute to her untimely demise.

This cute little guy is a Couch's Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii). She's a cute toad, but I don't expect we'll see much of her. She likes to bury herself, and rarely comes out.

Our other two toads, which we have had for about 1.5 years, are Chinese Fire-Bellied Toads (Bombina Orientalis). Pictured here is Walker, who is a bit shy and reserved. Not pictured is his nearly identical twin Texas Ranger, who is much more outgoing; more of a go get 'em kind of cricket hunter rather than a wait-for-them-to-come type. Of course, we love them equally.

Here's where they live. And yes, there really are 4 toads and one fake frog in this pic.

We also brought home a few hundred small tadpoles of unknown species. they were in a puddle about to dry up. Many will end up as food for the above 4 mentioned cannibals. Hopefully a few will make it to froghood and to this blog at a later date.