All amphibians make me feel like they are some of the most vulnerable creatures on the planet. They do not have sharp teeth, high speed of movement, the ability to escape from enemies, the ability to survive abrupt and extreme changes in environmental conditions, their life is always associated with water necessary for reproduction. Although toads are an exception.
The keratinized integuments of the body are able to protect them from drying out. I once met a toad in the desert, in the Karakum Desert, on an area dotted with deep cracks. Apparently those rains in which we fell in the spring were enough for them to survive, but for reproduction - a question.
Toads have two glands on the sides of their heads for protection from enemies, which secrete a caustic and rather poisonous secret. One evening my little dog nudged one of the toads, of which there are many on the site. She coughed violently for about forty minutes - a lesson for life, she no longer sticks to toads! The toxicity can be judged by the fact that a hunting dog of my acquaintances ate a toad, and the poisoning was quite strong - it was sick for several days.
All amphibians are masters of disguise, and toads are no exception. And one more condition affecting their number. Just think, toads are able to reproduce only after 3-4 years. How many of the babies born live to this age! Units! In captivity, a 36-year lifespan is recorded. Amphibians do not die out in our world only because of their enormous fertility - 10-12 thousand eggs can be laid by one female toad.
This essay will focus on the most common toads. In our latitudes, we can meet two types of toads. It is a green and gray toad. Gray catches our eyes less often than a green toad. Its range is confined to forest areas, therefore, in urban areas, we often meet the green toad. In spring, during the breeding season, you can usually hear the "song" of the green toad - a thin vibrating gurgling sound.
Toad caviar - multi-meter bundles of eggs lying on the bottom and around aquatic plants. If suddenly you see at the bottom of your pond of caviar - do not rush to throw them ashore. Take the eggs to the nearest body of water and release them in the coastal zone. These are our future assistants! None of our amphibians are as beneficial as toads. Their activity begins in the first evening twilight hours and continues until the morning. In addition to various beetles and caterpillars that are active at night (for example, the caterpillars of moth moths gnaw leaves and shoots, mainly at night), most of the toad's diet is slugs, which go out in the evenings in search of food.
The tongue of toads is thick, wide, and they seem to lick insects, throwing it to the side. The mouth is large, and they are able to swallow even a small mouse. They hardly know how to jump - they walk more. In case of danger, if they did not have time to escape, they take a threatening pose - they rise on their feet, arch their backs and expose the poisonous glands. It looks like the "earthen frogs" - garlic frogs behave. They are frightening - they rise on their feet and inflate their sides, increasing in size almost twice.
Toads have abilities that are incomprehensible to me. It is completely incomprehensible to me how toads overcome a meter of a sheer wall over brickwork and why would they climb to the site every evening? One day I found two toads under a house in a plastic bucket about 40 cm high, which has a slightly conical shape. It remained a mystery to me how they could get there, and I know for sure that no one could put them in a bucket.
Toads are attached to their summer habitat - after spawning, they come back. The more of them on the site, the fewer pests. I have toads during the warm season can be found in rockeries under stones. Many of them live in the garage next to the entrance and under the house. In the evenings they go hunting. Hang a lamp low above the ground, turn it on in the evenings.Toads will gather under the lamp to feast on the lepidoptera flying into the light, among which there are many scoops, moths, leafworms ...
As a child, my grandfather sent me in the spring to look for toads, which he released into a greenhouse with cucumbers. But there were no problems with slugs. Many years have passed, but I remember his lessons well and I try to protect these useful animals. At the beginning of the development of the site, I did two things - after the spring leveling of the soil, I released a large number of earthworms into the ground and during the first few years I brought green toads from the city, and even several pieces of gray toads found in the forest. But they did not stay at the site.
It is interesting that in some European countries there are road signs - "Attention: frogs!", There are special overpasses under the road for amphibians, and in Hungary there is not only a sign, but also a speed limit in the place of their constant migration.
Photo by the author
