Anaxyrus punctatus
(Baird and Girard, 1852)
Cochise Co., Arizona. August 11, 2006.
“We headed out on some two-lane roads into the mountains. Late afternoon rains had passed through the area, leaving the roads and the air temperature rather cool. This didn’t bode well for a night’s road work, and as it turned out we saw nary a herp on the road surface. We did hear a number of calling toads, and stopped to investigate the ditches along the road. I could not locate the toad I heard calling, but Tracey spotted him, a lot higher and further away from the water than I was looking. He was a Red-spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus), and as I got close for a picture, I was amazed by the power of the little toad’s trill. It actually rattled the bones in my head! Here was a resonating, penetrating sound that I had never experienced with American or Fowler’s Toads – I felt like it could rattle my teeth loose.”
Related herp journal: Tres Amigos en Arizona.
My Flickr album for this species is here.
HerpMapper records for this species are here.
