Toads!

[Jcommon]

I have seen the occasional toad from time to time this year as with any other year but last night i counted and picked up 15 of them (all quite small but not this years young) from the road next to my house. I moved them to safer locations and left.

This morning there was a rather grizzly sight on the road with atleast five toads sqaushed

Why were so many on the move so suddenly in the middle of a town?

James.

[Dogghound]

Are you sure that they are not this years? it would be very unusual for large numbers of toads to move like this together outside of the breeding season.

[Kayleigh]

yes it sounds like they are migrating from a pond as they do at this time of year..

[Billabong Karen]

I agree though, there do seem to be a lot of toads about. Could it be all the rain??? Here is one I found at the weekend...

[Jcommon]

I have no seen any very small toads though. I have a lot of this years froglings in my garden and quite frankly they are dwarfed by the toads. They look almost fully grown.


Another point is that there are no points in the direct vicinity.. will they travel long distances to reach a river?

[Mark_b]

Nope toads aren't too keen on rivers!

They do sound too big to be this years metamorphs.

Kayleigh - toads migrate away from their breeding ponds straight after breeding in Febuary/March.

As Karen pointed out it may be due to recent rain encouraging them out to feed after a period of dry weather.

[Kayleigh]

Yes I know the adults move away after breeding but the young disperse from ponds when have developed but these sound older maybe they have dispersed from another pond near by do we know how big they were.

[The Woodman]

Re toads and rivers - I've caught dozens and dozens of toads at night in South Cumbrian rivers (Leven, Crake, Troutbeck) during the spring spawning period in fish traps designed for catching seaward migrating salmon and sea trout smolts. Never caught a single frog!

The toads are always inflated and ride the rapids well, never coming to any harm as far as I can tell. Presumably they will eventually find a back eddy and climb out. There seem to be too many to be an occasional mishap and I can find no reference to this activity. Coincidently, during this toad "run" high numbers of Stone Loach migrate downstream too.

[Dogghound]

Its not ideal breeding habitat but its not rare to find toads breeding in flowing water. I have found toad larvae and breeding adults in several slow rivers and running drains. As woodman says its often the backwaters and slower sections which they breed in. However ideally stillwater is better, for a whole variety of reasons.

[Billabong Karen]

A quick question, since there was a reference to toad larvae - is there a quick way to tell the difference between toad and frog tadpoles?