|
Species Sportlight: Woodhouse’s Toad
Bufo woodhousii woodhousii
Toads, frogs, and salamanders are in the class amphibia, which means “double life.” They start life in the water and live on land as adults. Toads lay their soft, shell-less eggs in water and spend the first half of their lives as tadpoles, breathing water through gills. Later, they metamorphosize into terrestrial adults. Woodhouse’s toads, like all toads and frogs, can breathe and drink water through their skin. This makes them very sensitive to pollution, which can make them an indicator of good water quality.
The Woodhouse’s toad can be found throughout the state of Oklahoma. Their range includes North and South Dakota and extends down to Texas. They live in several different habitats, including streams, marshes, grasslands and urban areas. Their diet mostly consists of insects and they are most active at night. During the day, they will burrow in moist soil. Males can be heard calling May through October and their sounds are described as a “loud nasal “w-a-a-a-ah” lasting about 1- 1 ½ seconds by the Peterson’s Field Guide of Reptiles and Amphibians. They are named after Samuel Washington Woodhouse, a physician and naturalist that studied plants and animals in Oklahoma in the 1850s. Like all toads, they have dry, warty skin and are large, getting anywhere from 2 ½ inches to 5 inches, but they usually will not get over 4 inches. There is a white line that runs down the length of their back. They have long parotoid glands that are found on the back of the heads of toads and can secrete substances. In some species of toads, these substances can be toxic. They have nonuniform dark spots on their back and their stomach is white or yellow.
| 
