Tiny toad in the old rotten stump | World of tiny animals |

It was a nice surprise to find this little toad in an old rotten stump, where it stayed for a week and then just as it appeared it vanished.

The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (Bufo bufo, from Latin bufo "toad"), is a frog found throughout most of Europe, in the western part of North Asia. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps.
It is largely found in forested areas with coniferous, deciduous, and mixed woodland, especially in wet locations. It also inhabits open countryside, fields, copses, parks, and gardens, and often occurs in dry areas well away from standing water.

The toad has long been considered to be an animal of ill omen or a connection to a spirit world. This may have its origins in the fact that it is at home both on land and in the water. It may cause repugnance because of its drab, wart-like skin, its slow movements and the way it emerges from some dark hole. In Europe in the Middle Ages, the toad was associated with the Devil, for whom a coat-of-arms was invented emblazoned with three toads. It was known that the toad could poison people and, as the witch's familiar, it was thought to possess magical powers. Even ordinary people made use of dried toads, their bile, feces, and blood. In some areas, the finding of a toad in a house was considered evidence that a witch was present