Sonoran Desert Toad

In Arizona there are nine species of true toads, including the Sonoran Desert Toad which is also known as the Colorado River Toad.  This toad is our largest species.   It reaches 16 cm in length and is olive green with a white wart near the angle of the jaw.

August rains bring them back

Toads spend most of the year underground, having dug themselves in or usurped abandoned rodent burrows.  Summer rains sufficient to wet the animals deep in their burrows triggers emergence and signal the beginning of breeding season. The rains produce temporary pools of rain water that become a meeting place for cacophonous orgies sometimes involving several species.  Each night for a very few days of the year male toads position themselves around the margin of a pool (a swimming pool also works for them) and cry out relentlessly, identifying their sex, species and perhaps extolling their individual strengths as potential mates. Each species had its own song.

One female can generate 8,000 eggs  per mating. Tadpoles hatch in two to 12 days.

Keep your dog away

These amphibians are preyed upon by snakes as well as other amphibians, but they are rather well protected against predation by mammals.  The skin of the toad produces toxins that reacts with mucous.  If a dog mouths a toad, it will suffer severe discomfort with the possibility of paralysis and death.  In fact, if a toad sits in a dog’s water dish for some period and the pet subsequently drinks the water, the dog can become ill, perhaps even die.

Hawks, owls and snakes prey upon the Sonoran Desert Toad.

A good meal and back to the burrow

After mating, toads feed on insects, spiders and smaller toads that are also made abundant by the summer rain.  They will also eat small vertebrates.  In fact, toads will attempt to eat anything of an appropriate size that moves. Even insects that fly are easy prey for the toad’s quick flicking tongue.  After storing an adequate supply of fat, toads again burrow into the ground where they overwinter.