228 ] Snakes and Frogs and Their Relatives 



Finally, if all these ruses fail and it is seized by an enemy, it 

 emits a terrified noise. 



WHERE TO FIND TOADS 



These amphibians are rarely out in the open during the 

 daytime, and a child's best chance to observe their habits is to 

 keep one as a pet. They go abroad mostly at nighttime, hunting 

 for slugs, worms, and insects; most of the day they remain in 

 hiding. 



Toads frequent cool damp places; in suburban areas you may 

 discover one under a porch or dug in under a sidewalk. In the 

 fall they burrow deep into the ground to hibernate. When they 

 awaken in the spring they make their way to a pond to breed 

 and lay their eggs. 



How TOADS' EGGS DEVELOP 



The eggs of the toad, like frogs' eggs, are laid in a trans- 

 parent jelly-like substance, but they can be identified by their 

 form. The toad's eggs are laid in long strings, instead of in masses 

 like the frog's eggs. Changes in toads' eggs take place rapidly. 

 Tadpoles may emerge only four days after the eggs are laid; only 

 a few weeks later the tadpoles have developed into adults. 



The toads are still very small, however, and continue to grow 

 as adults in contrast to frogs, which attain much of their adult 

 size while still in the tadpole stage. The final size achieved by a 

 toad varies with the species. One kind, native to the Southwest, 

 sometimes measures six and a half inches in length; a little green 

 toad that lives on the grassy flatlands of the Southwest is no more 

 than an inch and a half long. 



Salamanders 



A most likely time to make the acquaintance of the little 

 amphibians known variously as salamanders, newts, or efts, is 

 shortly after a spring or summer rain. If you are walking along a 

 country road or woodland path, you may not even have to look 

 for them: They are out in the open enjoying the newly fallen 

 moisture. 



