Anaxyrus fowleri
(Hinckley, 1882)
St. Louis Co., Missouri. March, 1973
Included are scanned photos from the mid-nineties of a Fowler’s toad from Snake Road in southern Illinois. Note the dark dorsal spots encircling 2-3 warts, and the touching of the paratoid gland with the cranial ridges behind the eyes. Not shown is the creamy, unspotted chin and chest. Anaxyrus fowleri is the toad most likely to be seen on Snake Road, day or night. They are everywhere, and in the late summer the little toadlets that have morphed from toadpoles swell their numbers. By fall, most of the little toadlets are gone, having fallen prey to other creatures. Enough survive to reach adulthood and carry on the species.
The trill of the toad on a spring night is a beautiful sound, soft and yet full of purpose.
My Flickr album for this species is here.
HerpMapper records for this species are here.
