80: Woodhouse’s Toad

I write to you from Arapahoe, Ute, and Cheyenne land. I am interested in learning about the different animals that live in the place where I was born. Before we start with today’s animal, I want to emphasize that biological classification as understood by western society has its roots in racism, sexism, and transphobia – here’s a good explainer about why.

Our very last amphibian: Woodhouse’s Toad (Anaxyrus woodhousii), another creature who didn’t ask to be named after a 19th century Euro-American explorer. This toad is widely distributed throughout the western and midwestern United States, including in the non-mountainous parts of Colorado. They are very round, with very short legs (a general feature of toads, compared to frogs, as they do less dramatic leaps and more short hops), and a body covered in warts. These are full of – and can easily dispense – bufotoxins, poisonous and even lethal compounds that act as a defense mechanism for the toad (another distinction between frogs and toads – frogs have to flee from predators, while toads know they’ve got the ability to secrete poison into the mouths of anyone who tries to eat them). If bitten by, for example, a curious dog, the warts release white mucus which causes an immediate effect in the dog’s mouth so that the dog drops the toad. In fact, this can be fatal to dogs, which is a good reason to keep your dog on leash and carefully monitored if you are in an area where you might run into toads.

There is one predator which is immune to the Woodhouse Toad’s bufotoxins – the western hog-nosed snake takes advantage of toads’ belief that they do not need to flee predators to feast.

Throughout its range, Woodhouse’s Toad can flourish anywhere moist – in irrigation ditches, canyons, and marshes. They even live in the Grand Canyon!

If you know of any amphibians I’ve missed, please let me know – I’ve found a few animals that were not on the original list of animals I got from CSU.