Amphibian enthusiasts, take note: it’s toad time in Jasper.
Area lakes are swimming with toads right now, and if you’re relaxing on a Rocky Mountain lake, for example, you might just encounter a toad takeover.
“Right now Western (Boreal) toads are transforming and leaving their breeding ponds as toadlets,” said best-selling author and science communicator, Chris Fisher. “It’s the peak time of year to see them in huge numbers.”
Cora and Connor Covey found them in the dozens recently while playing in the Patricia Lake shallows recently. Handling them doesn’t cause warts, but the large glands on the toads’ heads produce a toxin intended to irritate the mouth of a predator, according to Ben Gadd’s Handbook of the Canadian Rockies. If you pick one up, wash your hands. And even though they’re easy to catch and observe, Gadd says not to keep them; they’ll die.
While they spawn from April to June (like other toads and frogs in the Canadian Rockies, mating is done in the water), the tadpoles transform to adults in late summer. They overwinter in burrows, either of their own digging or borrowed from rodents, Gadd says.
Many wetlands will produce thousands of toadlets, so if you haven’t yet, hop down to your local lake, moist montane or subalpine wood and listen for the peeps of a plethora of the Western (Boreal) toad.
It’s toad-ally worth it.
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
