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Bufo alvarius
The Colorado River toad can grow to about 7.5 inches (190 mm) long and is the largest toad in the United States apart from the non-native cane toad (Bufo marinus). It has a smooth, leathery skin and is olive green or mottled brown in color. Just behind the large golden eye with horizontal pupil is a bulging kidney-shaped parotoid gland. Below this is a large circular pale green area which is the tympanum or ear drum. By the corner of the mouth there is a white wart and there are white glands on the legs. All these glands produce toxic secretions. Dogs that have attacked toads have been paralyzed or even killed. Raccoons have learned to pull a toad away from a pond by the back leg, turn it on its back and start feeding on its belly, a strategy that keeps the raccoon well away from the poison glands.
northern Mexico and the southwestern United States
poisonous
Spotted on Aug 21, 2012
Submitted on Aug 21, 2012
4 Comments
Yeah I never really noticed their scat before but now that the roads around here are paved it seems more tadpoles are living to become large toads
Well, if you have plenty of toads then you'll have plenty of their scat around too! I have plenty of lizards and lizard scat where I live.
yeah that I could believe...too bad though I was hoping it was something I didn't run into much
Oh, so you do have them. This explains what you are finding. It's Colorado River Toad scat!