By Staff
There are hardly any of nature's creatures that I find downright repulsive.
Snakes kind a give me the Willies when I'm caught by surprise but I don't find them repulsive. I'm not big on spiders but they're not repulsive. For me it's toads that define repulsive. I don't really know why. They're not slimy, they don't stink or bite and, no, they don't give you warts like the old wive's tale goes. I suppose it doesn't help that over in my prairies when something moves in the grass underfoot it's always one of two things, a massasauga rattlesnake or a toad, both of which share similar coloration.
When living in town I didn't see many toads, just the odd one now and then that snuck into the garage. Out here around our new country house, though, they're everywhere, surely because we've created perfect toad habitat. Toads are basically woodland and grassland creatures, though they can adapt to most anywhere. Out here we have plenty of both. We also have a passable toad breeding pond not far from the house. Best of all, for the toads that is, the ground around the house is soft from digging the foundation. It makes super easy burrowing for the toads.
We have only two species of true toads here in Michigan. Toads differ from frogs in that their hind legs are shorter, they have thicker, more warty skin and live in drier habitat, though they do require a certain amount of dampness. The Eastern American toad is the most common and is found throughout the Eastern U.S. except the southern most states. Our other toad is the Fowler toad, which only occupies the western and southern parts of the Lower Peninsula. Both are common here in Southwest Michigan. Should you care to distinguish between them, the Fowler has three or more warts in the dark spots on its back while the Eastern has three or less warts within the dark spots. The Fowler's throat and belly are uniformly light colored while the American's underside is speckled.
Until I studied up on them I didn't know toads actually spend a lot of time underground. Using their strong hind legs they dig burrows as much as three feet deep. Though I've found what I think are toad burrows around our foundation I've never noticed mounds of dirt near them. What do they do with the dirt? That's a mystery to me. They also hang out under rocks, logs and other sheltered moist areas.
Being amphibians, toads are cold blooded so can't generate their own body heat. They survive the winter by hibernating in their burrows. When warm April rains beckon them topside, they make their way to shallow ponds where they breed. It's the only time toads willingly go into the water. The females lay from hundreds to several thousand eggs that float on the water in long strings bonded together with a jelly like substance. Fish, turtles and aquatic insects find toad caviar quite tasty and take a heavy toll. Soon the toad larvae (tadpoles or pollywogs) hatch. Within a month or so they start transformation into adults. First the hind legs grow, then the front legs. Next comes the jaws and digestive system. The gills give way to lungs and lastly the tail is absorbed. The average life span of toads in the wild is only a couple of years but in the easy life of captivity they average 20 years and have been known to go over 30 years.
Toads can secrete a mildly poisonous fluid from glands under the skin for self defense. Should you choose to cuddle with toads this poison can irritate human skin. The poison protects them from a lot of predators but not all. Skunks and raccoons relish toads (tastes like chicken, they say). Garter snakes are also said to be fond of toad legs but I should think it would take a King Kong garter snake to down a full size toad. The No. 1 toad predator is the hog nose snake, which lives almost exclusively on toads. Maybe I need to invite some hog noses over to my place. Carpe diem.