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Eastern American Toad

Bufo americanus americanus Holbrook

Some people call these common creatures "hop toads", and they do indeed move about in short hops rather than long leaps. Most toads are brown, but their colour can range from grey-brown to red-brown. Breeding males have a black throat and are smaller than females. Toads emerge from hibernation and fill the night air with long, trilling calls in May and June. Strings of 6 to 12 thousand eggs are laid in warm shallows; the small dark polliwogs develop rapidly and transform into miniature toads by September. Toads are among the last amphibians to hibernate each fall, and may be seen into late November.

Toads have a dry, "warty" skin. The "warts" are glands that contain a white sticky substance intended to turn away predators biting the toad. Handling toads will not cause warts in people. Some people say toads have the most "character" of all the amphibians. They are the most commonly seen frog in towns because they frequent backyard gardens and front lawns, often staying in one area all summer. Their hind feet have special small knobs for shoving soil aside so they gradually sink and bury themselves.

Toads eat a variety of invertebrates, especially ants, beetles, slugs, spiders and mites.

Additional Facts and Details

The family Bufonidae consists of 279 species worldwide; only one occurs in Nova Scotia.

The major regional colour difference we have noted is that individuals in the Annapolis Valley may have less spotting on the abdomen than usual. Rarely, an animal completely lacks abdominal spots.

During the spring breeding season, the throat on males is very dark, almost black.

Size: Females are bigger than males. The body length of 205 adult males ranged from 4.9 cm to 7.6 cm. Body length of 55 females ranged from 5.7 to 10.5 cm.

Distribution in Canada is Newfoundland (where it was introduced in 1960) as far west as eastern Manitoba where it hybridizes with the Canadian Toad, Bufo a. hemiophrys; as far north as Ungava Bay, James Bay and possibly Hudson Bay. In the United States, south to Mississippi and west to northeastern Kansas.

In Nova Scotia, toads are common throughout the province.

Toads have very flexible habitat requirements and can be expected to occur in all forest types, agricultural areas, suburbs and disturbed habitats such as gravel pits and clear-cuts.

The earliest record for a toad in spring is April 5, in 1960, when two females were found in Wolfville, Kings County.

Number of eggs produced by a female is strongly related to body size.

Along with their food, adults also swallow sand, gravel, bits of bark, moss, spruce and fir needles. A few eat their own shed skin.

Toads are among the last amphibians to hibernate in the fall. They are often seen on the highway during rainy nights in early November.

Latest fall record for an active toad is November 28, in 1972, when an adult female was seen in a backyard at Melville Cove, Halifax County.