Toads

Ever since I moved here I have enjoyed seeing the toads on the front porch in the summer. Growing up I had never encountered a toad, so the first time I saw one was back in 2006 when I came to live at our farm. Ever since I have enjoyed holding the toads and feeding them bugs.

This year the toad population exploded (right alongside the grasshopper population), and with it came a new found obsession for these fun creatures. So, naturally, I have been doing some research, and have learned quite a bit about our little toad friends. We have a knot of Bufo woodhousii whos' common name is the Western Woodhouse's Toad (a knot is a group of toads). This spp. of toad can get around 4-5 inches long and really fat (maybe I will weigh my fattest female and let you know just how fat).

While surfing the web researching various subjects I thought, 'wouldn't it be fun to name our farm?!?'. This has resulted in many funny name suggestions back and forth between the family members, but finally we decided on the name Singing Toad Farm. It is kind of fun to have a farm with a name; it seems more official.

What we know about our toads:

Our toads first meal when they migrate to our house is moths. Spring time in Colorado brings with it lots and lots of moths or 'millers' as well call them here. Many times in the evening I have turned on the porch light, and when the toads and millers gather on the porch I catch and feed millers to the toads. Now that the millers have gone, the toads mainly feast on grasshoppers and other insects. The toads practically litter my front vegetable garden, which I am currently outfitting with around a dozen toad houses to give the guys and gals a reason to come back next year- not that they haven't come back the last five years on their own. But the front garden is not the only area blessed with toads. This season I have seen many toads hopping around the driveway and barn after dark.

This is the first year that I have seen toadlets, which has been a lot of fun. I found them while moving objects that they had been sleeping under, such as a plie of wood on our porch and a inflated raft in our pasture. The ones that I have seen are about the size of a quarter and are just so darn cute. We really have no idea where our toads go in the winter. I know that they burrow and hibernate, but I dont know if they stay here on the farm, or migrate back to be near the pond during the early spring when they spawn in an unknown body of water. Next spring I plan on looking for toad spawn in the water around here (we live in the high desert so I am surprised that the toads can find any water to lay eggs in because outside of the ditch which only has water in it a few days a week there are very few ponds anywhere near our house.)

Here are some picture of the toads for your enjoyment.