OCTOADBER
(Source: flickr)
Ahh, late September in Louisiana! We’ve gotten a little teaser of cooler temperatures and we’re all eager for more. The full moon this last week with a partial eclipse was a perfect way to kick off this year’s spooky season. While we may still have plenty of hot days left in the year I’m ready to get my pumpkin spice and hang out with some of my favorite fall critters as we prepare for winter.
As our hemisphere tilts away from the sun and the days get shorter, my evening walks with my wife and dog are getting cooler and darker. Unfortunately this means doing battle with crepuscular insects like wood roaches and mosquitoes, but we have a faithful ally: a warty little gentleman known as Incilius nebulifer, commonly called the Gulf Coast Toad or Coastal Plains Toad. This time of year we frequently encounter these delightful little guys on sidewalks, lawns, and in gardens.
A Toad by
Any Other Name
Louisiana is home to many species of frogs and toads who love our bayous, drainage ditches, and ephemeral ponds and puddles. In south Louisiana, most of our toads are members of the genus Anaxyrus, such as the tiny dark brown Oak Toad or the larger pale Southern toad.
The Gulf Coast Toad is a member of a different genus entirely (Incilius) and can be easily differentiated by a prominent ridge that runs along its head and down its spine. They are 3-5 inches long, brown or sometimes olive-colored with amber eyes and yellow streaks and splotches that provide camouflage. Wild toads live 3-5 years, although in captivity they can live up to 10!
The Gulf Coast Toad is found all along the Yucatan peninsula and Gulf of Mexico, usually not too far from a body of water where they can breed. In 2011 genetic testing confirmed that the toads of South Louisiana are a genetically distinct population and were named Coastal Plains Toad. Taxonomy being a bit of an obscure topic to the average homeowner and dog walker, many people (myself included) continue to address this fellow as Gulf Coast Toad. Readers may follow their own hearts in this matter.
While Gulf Coast Toads live here year-round and can be spotted any time, I do observe them more frequently during the fall. While the sun is setting earlier in the day, I’m still walking my dog around the same time, meaning that every day it gets a little darker and spookier. I find myself peering distrustfully ahead at a lurking shadow before realizing it’s an inflatable skeleton with a pumpkin, and my anxiety dissolves into a giggle.
Humanity has often responded to the shorter days with a combination of trepidation and humor. Many cultures celebrate the fall harvest along with commemorating loved ones who have passed, indulging in pranks and tricks, and preparing ourselves for the cold and dark.
Toad-ally Magical
Due in part to their more nocturnal habits, toads have often been associated with magic and witchcraft. Fans of Harry Potter may remember Trevor, Neville Longbottom’s faithful companion. Trevor is just one in a long line of toads who have served witches and wizards. Toad bones were believed to have powers such as causing boiling water to cool or cool water to boil.
Toads were sometimes used in whole or in part as aphrodisiacs; because of their abundance in spring, frogs and toads are often associated with fertility. In Ancient Egypt, childbirth and fertility was the province of the toad-headed goddess Heket. Birthing women in medieval Europe were given live toads or charms of toads to ease birthing pains. Even in modern times, toad meat is sometimes ingested as an aphrodisiac in some parts of the world (this often results in poisoning and hospitalization. Do not do this. Stick with flowers and chocolate and candlelit dinners).
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Sweltered venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ th’ charmèd pot.
First Witch
Macbeth
Act 4 Scene 1
Like all true toads, Gulf Coast Toads have glands behind their eyes called parotid glands that can, when threatened, secrete a variety of alkaloids referred to as bufotoxins. Historically, these toxins have been used to induce states of delirium and euphoria that were believed to imbue the user with magical powers. Practitioners sometimes kept toads, feeding them particular diets to encourage the development of certain toxins.
The efficacy of these practices is much debated, and we at the Louisiana Nursery do not encourage or condone keeping wild animals or annoying them for your personal gain. Avoid handling wild toads when possible and wash your hands promptly any time you touch one. Toad poisoning can cause nausea, vomiting, and seizures. Please enjoy your toads responsibly and at a respectful distance.
All toads are toothless, and poison is their last line of defense. Mostly they rely on camouflage and their excellent vision to get by. Toads are ambush predators, lurking in holes or leaf litter, lunging suddenly at prey such as slugs, moths, and sometimes even smaller frogs or lizards. Their large eyes are well-adapted to lower light conditions, and they often prefer to hunt in the morning or evening, when cooler temperatures slow down their preferred prey items.
A single toad can eat up to a thousand insects, slugs, and spiders in a night! For this reason, they make excellent helpers in your garden. While many amphibians have struggled in the face off urbanization, Gulf Coast Toads thrive in suburban lawns and gardens, frequently hiding in holes under concrete slabs (such as Buttercup is doing above).
Building a toad house is a fun and easy way to invite a toad to feast on your garden pests. There are a variety of pre-made houses and tutorials online, but all will have the same essential premise: a solid shelter with multiple exits, situated near a source of water and with damp leaves or soil underneath. I have provided Buttercup with a lovely broken flowerpot and a simple terra cotta saucer I keep filled, but she prefers her hole shaded by a baby blackberry (the slugs that chomp the blackberry are an easy dinner for her).
During the fall, toads put on as much fat as they can before temperatures drop and much of their prey goes dormant. To survive the winter, toads enter a state called brumation, similar to hibernation in warm-blooded animals. They find a sheltered place, lower their body temperature and metabolic demands and wait out the cold.
In the spring when temperatures rise and insects reappear, the toads come out, fuel up, and begin to breed. Their familiar purring song is a sure sign that spring is on its way!
Gulf Coast Toads lay up to 20,000 eggs in bodies of still water. Tadpoles will emerge in a day or two and complete their metamorphosis in 20-30 days, depending on temperature and food availability. This is when we start seeing extremely tiny toads all over, and the cycles begins anew.
Most modern Americans don’t think of ourselves as having relationships with wildlife, but toads and humanity have a long history together, from some of our oldest stories to childhoods playing in the ditches and yards. We are not yet completely divorced from the rhythms of nature, and by keeping our ears, eyes, and hearts open we can experience the richness of this special place we all call home.
Authored by Cam Russell
