Toads in Spring
This past week we ventured out to a local creek where my son made an interesting toad discovery.
Yep, you guessed it, or maybe you didn’t. Seems Mr. and Mrs. Toad were doing their “spring thing” and my son caught them in the act. Now, after I reprimanded him that he should have left them be while they were in this delicate state, we were all quite amazed at getting the opportunity to actually see this! The female is the larger toad on bottom, full of eggs, the male is the smaller toad on top. He waits patiently until the female lays her eggs, which look like a string of black pearls, and then he deposits his necessaries upon the eggs as they exit the female to make them start growing into tadpoles. There’s a little “birds and the bees” lesson for you.
The male made a quick getaway, so we were able to observe the female more closely.
She’s quite large, definitely full of eggs. My youngest agreed to “pet” the toad. She doesn’t quite know what to think yet of these strange hopping creatures. Regardless, the bumpy skin felt neat to her.
Then she reluctantly agreed to hold the big toad. It didn’t last for long though. The female hopped back into the creek. A few minutes later we could hear the male calling to her. I hope they got reunited!
That was definitely an interesting discovery! Love seeing your littlest in on the nature study fun, too!
What a neat find! We found a pair like that last spring (though we let them be).
Thanks for sharing your photos!
Very interesting find! She is a really large toad. That is a good sign that your creek isn’t full of bad stuff, right?
Absolutely! It’s a great sign that the creek is very healthy!
Hi Dana! I really wish my son had “let them be”, we could have observed them from a distance! But it was neat experience!
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for visiting! Yes, my youngest is really getting into nature and I love seeing her getting more and more connected to it!
Oh my goodness!!! I learned a little by my visit today! LOL
Hi Theresa, Glad you learned something! Never new my blog would have to have a rating! LOL