Toads are members of the Bufonidae Family
There are two kinds of toad in Britain. The Common Toad (Bufo Bufo) which is usually brown with warty skin, and the much rarer Natterjack Toad (Bufo Calamita) which is grey /green with a distinctive yellow stripe down the centre of its back.
Although common the Common Toad is absent from Ireland.
Natterjack Toads are fully protected under UK law. It is an offence to capture or injure a Natterjack Toad or to destroy it’s habitat.
Common Toads are only protected under UK law from being sold. Who would buy a toad? A lonely princess with a vivid imagination?
The only place to have a realistic chance of seeing a Natterjack Toad in Scotland is on the Solway Firth.
The Common Toad probably lives for 10-12 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity
The Beaver
It now looks like the beaver which has been extinct in Scotland for many years is going to be reintroduced into Knapdale Forest, Argyll by the conservation body Scottish Natural Heritage. It is argued that beavers amongst other things could help to create the wetland habitats that encourage frogs and toads. The Scottish Executive are due to make a decision on beaver reintroduction soon. Beavers have been successfully reintroduced into a number of European countries and Scotland has probably fallen behind on this one. Let’s hope the pilot beaver project gets underway as soon as possible.
Whilst female toads make no noise, male Natterjack Toads are the noisiest amphibians in Europe
A Knot of Toads.
The collective noun for a group of toads.
Mystery of German Exploding Toads.
Toads in an area of Northern Germany are being killed off by a mysterious disease. They are exploding. Click here for full story.
Raining Toads
Not as daft as it sounds. There are numerous recorded cases in modern times of frogs and toads being swept into the air in violent storms only be dropped in the rain some distance away.
Toad Eating Flies
We all know that toads eat flies but in the Arizona Desert in the USA the larvae of a sand flies wait in the sand until a toad passes by. They attach themselves to the toad and gradually kill it. When the toad dies the fly larvae feast on the decaying toad until they mature and fly off, perhaps to be eaten by a toad!
Stretching the toad link to the limit.
One of Scotland’s famous sons, was author Kenneth Grahame (1859 - 1932). His best known work is " The Wind in the Willows ", later dramatised by A.A. Milne as "Toad of Toad Hall ".
