Last weekend was the invasion of the fornicating toads. For two days and nights, the croaking was loud and continuous. I spent all Sunday afternoon scooping eggs out of my ponds. On the bright side, I saw that my hungry little mosquito fish love toad eggs...;-) Hopefully they will devour most of the eggs I missed.
Here is a photo of an unusal colored little guy. . . ever seen one like this before?
Here is the link to the University of Florida's wildlife identification of the differents species of frogs & toads found in Florida. My guess is a southern toad.
http://www.wec.ufl.edu/extension/wildlife_info/frogstoads/anaxyrus_terrestris.php
If that's the actual color, very interesting! I haven't seen one so coppery before, although we're south of you. I DID have an abundance of toads in my ponds too! Almost chirping themselves into oblivion, and me into a night with no sleep. Last year we had to do 3am toad tossing over the fence, to get some sleep! In the morning, I collect the couples in a large bucket and drive them a mile down the road to the lake. Strands and strands and strands of toad eggs clog up the filters.... :) But I grow everything in vases of water with tadpoles, and not soil.
BeeHive,
You are right on target. Not only does my red guy look like the photo, the sounds of the Southern Frog are the exact piercing sounds the toads in my yard make. All this time, I thought they were Fowler's Toads. Live and Learn, eh?
Thank you,
Parrotma
You are welcome..Love to help others!
OMG!!! With all the rain in the FL panhandle (7+ inches), the toads returned last night with a vengeance! I hope it isn't raining after work--I will most likely have my work cut out for me...again~!!! They are certainly "horny" little toads.....
Oh my goodness. After reading these posts I hope I haven't created something I'm going to be sorry about. I started a pond this year, was very excited the other night when we had our first croakers. Discovered the amorous couples the next day and the cool looking egg ribbons too. I now have hundreds of tadpoles. I know for certainty that they are Southern Toads. As I said before, I'm I going to be sorry?
My my! They must find your pond romantic! LOL. Do you have fish? They may reduce the tadpole numbers if so.
You'll have a bug free yard for life! :)
The first time the toads were amorous, there wasn't so many and I helped reduce the population by transferring a few hundred to a nearby pond. Actually, I was also excited the first time to see the little tadpoles in the pond and they rapidly become tiny little toads that are cute as a button and only about 1/2" long. They will be hopping all over the place so watch out. In the following years, the little ones seem to have grown up and the amount of horny toads increases exponentially as they return home to breed.....Bottom line--enjoy the first time and next year just be ready to scoop.
Did they make a lot of noise? Just one can put out a piercing croak..
I don't have any fish nor do I have my pump set up yet. I was thinking of getting just a couple of those cheap goldfish to eat the mosquito larvae. Then the toads arrived. I hate to hijack your post but I need some advice. What will happen if I start the pump and/or add goldfish? and Yes the croaking was so loud I could hear it inside the house. I was able to witness one fellow actually doing the croaking, blowing his throat out. Unfortunately the camera wasn't near by. It will be fun seeing the hundreds of little toads hopping around. I'm sure my cats will enjoy it too :)
A pump? Like a filter? That is always a good thing. I too bought a couple of little goldfish--they are now up to about 8" long and I have about 55 of them. By the way, I have not witnessed the goldfish ever devouring the tadpoles. I wouldn't suggest buying any fish unless you install a filter, though, and it won't have any effect on the tadpoles either--at least it doesn't in my case.
I forgot...I went to a pond down the street from me and got some "mosquito" fish. They not only eat mosquito larvae but toad and frog eggs as well; however, they are very tiny fish and can't consume a lot--maybe a hundred or more could...(-;
Fish will eat frog tadpoles, but not toad tadpoles, they are bitter......(sort of a self protection thing) I refer to them as toadpoles.....vs tadpoles. I scoop tadpoles by the hundreds and feed them to my koi....but they won't go near a toadpole. Both will eat mosquito larvae though.... Goldfish, mosquito fish, and the rosy bard feeder fish, are all good for small water bowls where mosquito larvae tends to set up camp. Although they do very well with a pump for extra oxygen, they are all surface breathers, so can survive without (koi can NOT) If you end up with larvae, and nothing to eat them, you can add mosquito dunks (available at Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart, etc) which kills mosquito larvae, but is safe for fish, tadpoles, birds, etc...
I have had tadpole eggs in my pond several times , with in 48 hours my comets eat all of the eggs. I have only seen one toad in 7 years. I really got a kick out of those toad photos, so funny.... Good photos !!!!! I have toad houses all around the garden too. has any one ever seen toads use toad houses ????? Where should i have the toad houses , shade, sun, wet , dry under cover ????
Elaine
Elaine, toads can't take much sun, so being in MD, you can probably park your toad house under the branches of filtered sun plants. Kind of scuff them down in the mulch a bit, so the toads can sit on the cooler damp ground. Here in Florida, toad house just bake toads, but our weather is extreme. They bury themselves under the edges of landscape timbers and neslte down in the mulch in a shady area.
MerryMary, are you saying that my "toadpoles" will eat the mosquito larvae? So far it doesn't look like that's happening. The guys are only a week old, maybe I'm too impatient. I have heard of the dunks before and tried them but I didn't have success. Could be they were old. Someone gave me their leftovers.
Dunks work, moving water works the best, fish eat mosquito larvae . But no matter what you will never be able to get rid of them completely . If you are outside in the evening , get a outside fan. we always use one when we have guest over . mosquito's don't' like the moving air. It really prevents a lot of mosquito bites....
