Ms. Beefcake

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been crazy about frogs and toads! I think they are absolutely adorable! So living up here in the rural countryside, I am overjoyed that I get to see these guys almost every day! YAY! We have tree frogs appearing on the walls of our house and shop, pollywogs (tadpoles) in our seasonal pond, and at night I usually see at least one toad hopping around when I go out! I've been wanting to get a picture but setting up the flash attachment for night shots had been too much bother when I'm just about to dive into bed at night. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see this miniature sumo wrestler outside our shop one morning! I took one look, turned around and raced back to the house for the camera, hoping my buddy would still be there when I got back two minutes later. YAY!! I was so happy to get some pictures, isn't this toad fabulous?!!

Oregon has three native toads, and this is the most common type, the Western Toad. In low elevations (we're at 1500 feet) these guys are nocturnal, so I was lucky to see this cutie pie before it returned to its den, which can be under a rock, log, stump, or in a rodent burrow. In higher elevations or more humid conditions, these toads are diurnal, or active during the day. Like other amphibians and also reptiles, toads regulate their temperature by basking in the sun, like this one is doing. Males and females appear different: male Western Toads are fairly smooth without many bumps, so this is a female! :D She likes to eat insects and spiders, and she'd also eat crayfish if we were near a river! I also found out that mature Western Toads have an obvious dorsal line down their backbone, and she doesn't have one, so she's less than three years old. Finally, I will admit that I love to gently pet toads that I find, but I'm careful to wash my hands afterwards: their skin contains toxins which keep them safe from most predators! :)

If you would like to know more about Western Toads, Wiki has a great page here: Wiki: Western Toad

This image was taken in May, 2012.