12 Toads - Plentiful Population This Season or Unrecognized Amphibian Invasion

Conditions must have been right for a LOT of toads to hatch this year. Unless this is normal, not some lame horror movie invasion. I'd say at least a dozen this time, the small ones near cabin and garden. Below is an excerpt from the online Montana Field Guide.Show more

"JUVENILES AND ADULTS
Except for small metamorphs, parallel cranial crests are found on the snout and behind the eyes in the shape of an “L”. Large parotid glands are present behind the eyes. The post-orbital crests typically touch the paratoid glands. If a lump is present on the snout, it does not extend back between the eyes.

Very young transformed toads typically lack the dorsal line and often have reddish warts. Adults have dry skin with small warts and each hind foot has two dark digging ‘spades’ on their soles. A white stripe extends down the center of the back on adults and is surrounded by a green and creamy-yellowish mottling with greener toward the center line and creamier yellow toward the lateral surface. Usually completely white ventrally, but some black spotting may be present (Bragg 1940b, Maxell et al. 2009). Snout-vent length (SVL) of adults is 63.5-127 mm (Smith 1934, Underhill 1960).

VOICE:
Calls are loud and can carry over a distance of 800 meters (approximately 2,625 feet) (Bryce Maxell, personal communication). Calls are high-pitched nasal "waaaaaaaaah" that sounds lie a crying baby, lasting 2-10 seconds and repeated regularly or irregularly (Werner et al. 2004).

Diagnostic Characteristics
See the geographic range of Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) for possible areas of overlap. Adults of the Western Toad lack cranial crests and are rarely found in areas far from forests. The Canadian toad (Anaxyrus hemiophrys), if present, is likely to only occur in the extreme northeast corner of the state and has a lump between the eyes and frequently has the paratoid gland separate from the post-orbital crest, which is often broken.

Although overlap in habitat use exists the Great Plains Toad (Anaxyrus cognatus) is more commonly associated with heavier soils in upland habitats (Timken and Dunlap 1965). Adults of the Great Plains Toad have a raised shield on the tip of the snout and the cranial crests between their eyes diverge to form a “V”. The Great Plains Toad has large, white-bordered, dark dorsal blotches. Metamorphs of the Great Plains Toad have large paired dorsal blotches."