IV "i^ 3.0, 1 1 iS l3;0Cii IU4?=fe- U- 8. NATIONAL MUSEOM ' 



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Bi-66U 4-68 UHITED STATES DEPARTMEITT OF AGRICULTURE 



Aug. '22 E^^1M5^ • BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



THE TOAD 



This leaflet is prepared for the information of correspondents. With 

 the exception of the section relating to food habits, the technical and other 

 matter represents a ccmpilation of investigations of various authors and is in- 

 tended to summarize and popularize the various phases of the toad's economy. 



INTRODUCTION 



Some form of toad can "be found in every State in the Union. On the Pa- 

 cific Coast of North America toads range from the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, on 

 the north, to La Faz, Lower California, on the south. To the eastward forms 

 other than that with which this account deals occupy the region limited by the 

 Canadian boundary on the north and the Mississippi River on the east, some of 

 them ranging southward into Central and South America. 



The common toad, Bufo americanus_, with which this account is chiefly con- 

 cerned, has been found as far north as southern Labrador and in the vicinity 

 of Fort George, on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, Canada. Its westward range 

 terminates, according to environmental conditions, somewhere between the 95th 

 and 100th meridians. The common toad has also been found in eastern Texas, 

 Louisiana, and Georgia. It is the commcnost toad present in the eastern 

 United States and is much more abundant south of the Groat Lakes than farther 

 north . 



LIFE HISTORY OP THE TOAD 



The time of appearance of the toad in spring varies with locality and 

 temperature. In the Northern States toads have emerged from their winter 

 hibernation retreats as early as the middle of March, but the majority of the 

 individuals appear after April 1, When the toad emerges in spring it proceeds 

 to some shallow pool or overflow of a stream. The males usually precede the 

 females to the water, but do not commence to sing until about the third week 

 in April, or as late as May, according to latitude. 



It is not unusual to find hundreds of toads congregated in a snail pond 

 during the spawning season. Under normal conditions, if mated in the water, 

 the female begins laying at once, and may lay from four thousand to fifteen 

 thousand eggs, the process being usually completed within One day unless there 

 should be a sudden drop in te-n.perature . The eggs are laid in long spiral 

 strings of jelly. The hatching period depends upon the tenporaturo , Below 

 65° it requires 8 to 12 days, and above that temperature 3 to S days. Toads 

 are thus born in the water and in it spend their early life in a larval, fish- 

 like state, breathing by means of gills. The transformation of a tadpole to 

 a young toad takes place sometime between 50 and 65 days after birth and under 

 abnormal conditions it has required 200 days. 



If the weather is moderate, toads may remain active from March to the 



