For such a "rough around the edges-looking" creature, the American Toad has been blessed with the sweetest call of all the frogs. Its melodious trill is a soothing sound emanating from the spring forest.
Note the 2 kidney-shaped paratoid glands behind the eyes.
In the Fowler's Toad, they are skinnier. Another way to distinquish the two, is to count the warts within the black spots. In the American Toad, there are 1 - 2 per spot, in Fowler's, there are 3 or more.
Fowler's Toads are late sleepers, not emerging until late April/early May. Their call sounds like a comical version of a bleeting sheep. They have a "tidier" look to them, perhaps it has something to do with their smoother skin. Their patterns are more distinct, too, with the markings more in contrast to a paler and grayer body. But beware - Fowler's and Americans can hybridize, making identification more difficult. This is more likely to happen where the two habitats overlap in the deciduous forest. A toad in the sand, is most likely to be a Fowler's. A toad in the woods could be either.
Fowler's tend to "turn in" a few weeks earlier than their cousins, entering their underground burrows around September.
As mentioned, Fowler's generally prefer a different habitat from their americanus cousin, populating sandy and drier areas. Breeding season is a few weeks after the American Toads. Their eggs are also layed in long strands.
Behind the head of the American toad are two toxin-filled glands, called paratoid glands. These make the toad very unpalatable to many mammals, as my jack russell terrier will attest.
In the fall, they seek an underground burrow to wait out the cold weather.
Once they leave the water as toadlets, they embark on a terrestrial life in deciduous forests, fields, and gardens - where they help keep down the slug population.
They begin their mating call shortly after their mid-March emergence. Gathering along the edges of a variety of aquatic habitats, they mate in April and lay their long strands of eggs, which snake and intertwine along the muddy basin. It is not unusual to come across these strands in water-filled tire ruts. The eggs develop very rapidly, as do the tadpoles.
These toad tadpoles, found in mid June, are about a week along.
They tend to be very dark - almost black - with a thin tail.
