American toad

Much to the chagrin of our leg breaking TA Andrew, and probably luckily for this toad, I was able to catch him after Andrew had given up hope. The toad is an American toad, Bufo americanus, and after capture he puffed his little body up, so that he would be more difficult to swallow, and began calling. American toads can only be confused with the Fowler's toad within their range, and the key distinguishing feature is that the American toad will have only one or two warts per spot, while the Fowler's will have three or more warts per large spot. This specimen was an adult, because he was about 2.5 inches long, and the typical size for an
American toad ranges from 2-3.5 inches.
If you look carefully you can see the location that I managed to nab this little soprano. He was hopping along the rock ledges right along the side of the stream, where he was most likely calling to attract the ladies after the rain that had been falling on and off all day. I replaced him soon after, not wanting to step between my warty friend and true love.

Zack Mikolaj,
Miami University