Love fest of Bufo americanus

I went for a walk after lunch on Sunday. The rhubarb may be ready for a pie next weekend.

Rhubarb nearly ready for harvest

The asparagus is slowly starting to sprout. I harvested 5 spears, which I threw in a stir fry tonight.

The first asparagus

I went down to the vernal pond by the willows. I have been trying to years to catch a glimpse of the tiny chorus frogs that serenade us 24/7. (Don’t they get tired? Do they sleep? Sing in shifts?) I was pretty excited when I saw the water moving in the pond. As I got closer, I could tell that whatever was swimming in there was far too large for a chorus frog. When I started to pay attention, I noted that there was a second call. The chorus frog is often described as sounding like running a finger along a comb. The second song was just a steady noise. Soon I was close enough to see toads. Dozens of American toads (Bufo americanus). They were not shy. Chorus frogs stop croaking when I approach and remain silent until I’m long gone. The toads stopped for a minute, but started right back up if I stood still. The toads also made no attempt to hide. They moved if I was about to step on them, but otherwise paid me no mind. These two were right at my feet.

Mating toads at my feet

Standing in one place, I saw eight pairs and 5 bachelors. There are six pairs in this photo.

Find all six pairs in this photo

I was amazed at all the different colors. A person doesn’t notice when seeing them one at a time. Some were nearly black, some copper, some tan. Unlike frog eggs, which are laid in a mass, toad eggs are laid in a line. In this photo, you can see two lines of eggs coming from the pair.

Two strings of eggs coming from a black male and copper-colored female

Here’s a string in my hand.

Toad eggs

This video captures the first time I’ve actually seen a toad croaking. This is also the first time I’ve witnessed the mating frenzy. The females were much larger than the males. When coupled, the female does all the swimming. The male hangs on for dear life (he helps squeeze out the eggs) and kicks at interlopers. The bachelor in this clip was rebuffed at every turn. (Sorry about the wind noise.)

I continued my walk back to the creek to check on the plants I put in last weekend. The May apple and maidenhair fern are not up yet. The trout lilies and Dutchman’s breeches are up but small. The ramps are really going to town.

One of my two jack-in-the-pulpit is up. I hope the other one is late and not dead.

Jack-in-the-pulpit sticking its nose up

I was looking at the wild ginger when I sensed movement behind me. I turned and found myself three feet from a mink. It seemed like it was about to sniff my boots. I recovered my senses in time to try for a picture. My camera decided it needed a flash. The top flipped up, hit the bill of my hat, and made several clicks. The mink spooked before I could move my hat and get the shot. Here’s a picture of the mink retreating. It’s a terrible picture, but it’s better than my picture of the road a few seconds after a bear cub crossed.

A mink running away

Whew! What an exciting day! I told Terry and Hilda about the toads when I got back to the house. Terry didn’t bother with his Wellies and therefore didn’t get the best view. I helped Hilda get out into the midst. We saw three bachelors croaking at and tussling with each other.

I think the toads are ill-advised in their choice of mating areas. Wikipedia says the eggs hatch in 2-14 days and can take as long as 65 days to reach metamorphosis. Sad to say, that pond will be long gone before then. That’s a whole lot of wasted reproductive effort.