An earth toad is an amphibian with a bad reputation. Is it so?

Few people like amphibians: it's good if a frog or a toad is simply avoided, and it's often an animal that is being harmed! Unmotivated aggression on the part of a person can be explained only by his proximity - it is strange to want to offend an animal like an earth toad if one knows about it a little.

Amphibia with poor reputation

Dislike for toads goes through generations. Even in the Middle Ages, these animals were treated with special contempt and fear. In all civilized countries it was believed that touching a toad is a sure death. And the cause of death allegedly was the poison released by the toad through the skin.

Also, its insidiousness and danger to our ancestors was that a person could become a kind of incubator for them. Explained it this way: with bad or untreated water you can drink eggs of toads, and already in the stomach they will hatch safely and will begin active vital activity. For a modern person, this sounds wild, and earlier from a similar condition was very actively treated.

Science has proved that for a man a frog poses no danger. Yes, in case of an extreme situation, an earth toad can release a special protective secret from the skin, but it performs, rather, a deterrent role and will not cause any harm.

Toad or frog: how to distinguish?

For many people it is a matter of principle: who exactly did they meet, whether the frog is a frog? And although there is no danger, neither one, nor another, it is not difficult to distinguish them.

• The toad is larger in size: an adult can reach 15 centimeters in length.
• The body of the toad is loose, the contours are indistinctly outlined. The head is quite low against the ground.
• The skin can have a shade of earthy gray to dark green. It has a large number of warts, tubercles and glands.
• Toad, unlike the frog, can not jump. She confidently goes to the goal.

More often people meet amphibians on rest at reservoirs or in yards where there is a constant source of a moisture. So, usually an excellent ground toad in the garden is perfect - it is where the summer residents often meet and unfoundedly frighten.

Life and habits

Like other amphibians, for a season of temperature decrease, toads fall into hibernation. So that no one disturbs the process of waiting for heat, they burrow into the soil to a depth of 10 centimeters, hide under the roots of trees and stumps and even can use abandoned rodent burrows.

In the warm season, the activity of toads occurs at night. At this time they go out in search of food: it is often possible to meet in the summer evening a toad in places illuminated by lanterns.

Quite interesting is the answer to the question of how earth frogs reproduce. First of all, these animals can not do this without water: it is in the pond that they spawn.

Caviar of toads has a special appearance - it resembles a long thin cord. Such cords lie on the bottom of a pond or can be braided around algae. Sometimes the length of such cords reaches 5-8 meters!

Tadpoles that appear from the calf are not shown on the surface at first. They live on the bottom, eating small algae and what is left of the dying animals and plants. Tadpoles develop quite quickly, and after 50-60 days on land a full-fledged green or earth toad can appear.

Fear or help for the gardener?

What to do if suddenly there was an earth toad in the garden or in the garden? Can I touch her, if she spoils the harvest? Or maybe bring friends and from the toads have nowhere to hide?

In order to answer the question, what do toads do in the garden or the garden, you need to find out what the earth frogs eat.

The main food for them are insects. They do not disdain caterpillars, various centipedes, and snails. The toad can not be frightened by a bright coloring or an unusual kind of insect. Having seen the object for breakfast, the toad waddle goes to its goal.

What is the benefit for the gardener? The most direct! The terrestrial toad is an excellent organic way of fighting pests and devouring crops. She is such a sanitary nurse, who goes round the entrusted territory in the evenings.

Therefore, having met this amphibian on its way or a garden, it is not necessary to assimilate medieval Europeans and flee for an "anti-tuberculosis" antidote or pesticide. Do not beat the animal and do not stomp on it: give way, because it goes on its important business, fulfilling its natural function. And the side effect of it is good for a person.