Red-spotted toad

[BUFO PUNCTATUS]

After hibernating for seven to 10 months and living off water stored in an overly large bladder, red-spotted toads must feel indescribably good when at last drinking through a delicate patch of skin on their belly. Otherwise protected from the arid desert environment by thick, dry skin, the 2-inch-long inhabitants of southeastern California sit on damp soil to rehydrate. Once spring rains lure them from their hiding places, red-spotted toads quickly gravitate to pools in rocky canyons and after sunset fill the night air with their high trilling. Females stand out among toads for laying their eggs singly rather than in long, looping strings.

NATURAL HISTORY

Apparently unrelated to other North American species, this toad has an oddly flattened profile that allows it to slip into rocky cracks to wait out hot days. With a low center of gravity, it can more easily scramble up the sheer rock faces that serve as home.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

Light grayish in color, these toads appear to have a rash of red-tipped bumps all over their bodies.