Yellow Toad!

I am sure Spring is here! I have definite proof other than the usual warm weather or budding plants..I have toads! Yep! The toads have come out of hibernation in full force! The little Dragonfly Pond on the side of the house has been the scene of a nightly chorus of their shrill mating calls for the past week. The whistle like calls start just after dark and last for hours and hours. The male toads will seek out water holes and will start their calling. The females are attracted to this call and will swarm to the area to mate and lay hundreds of eggs. The eggs are in long strings and are attached to water plants, sticks or any object that is underwater. I know these things because it seems that every toad within miles comes to sing their serenades in my yard! The sound at times can almost be deafening!

One of the usual toads in the yard.

The toads in this area are, more likely than not, one of two types..the American Toad or the Southern Toad. Both of these can be found in several colors..brown, grey and sort of a brick-red. It is hard to distinguish between the two in the middle of the night while this chorus is taking place so I have no clue as to which is utilizing my little pond...perhaps both do! Anyway, since this nightly serenading has been happening, I see a lot of toads in the yard during the daytime hours. This is not a problem for me..I like toads! They eat a lot of bugs! I welcome them into the garden and their bug-eating habit has even made me more tolerant of their efforts to deprive me of sleep!

A pale colored toad that is visiting the Bayou! I named it "Yellow Toad"!

All of this brings me to the reason of this post! This morning when I was out digging up and transplanting some Shasta Daisies that had decided to grow in the lawn instead of the garden, I came across a strange toad! I did not recognize this type of toad! This was a yellow toad! A pale, buttery yellow but yellow just the same! Yes, it did have brown blotches on it but the yellow hue stood out like a sore thumb! This poor toad did not seem to fit in with the other toads! I stared at the little toad...."Why are you yellow, Yellow Toad?" I began to ponder the situation. I could not for the life of me come up with a positive answer. Could this little toad be albino? Could its pale color be accounted for by its surroundings while it hibernated? Could it be an entirely different species of toad? I do not know. I just hope Yellow Toad hangs around the garden and that its pale color does not make it an easy target for some predator.