 |
Eastern Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii)
Above and below three: Spadefoot Toads emerged from their subterranean world in rural Queen Anne's and Caroline Counties during Sunday night's thunderstorm (5/27/2007).
Below: A close-up of a Spadefoot's "spade", which is used for burrowing.
Below two: A smaller Spadefoot Toad photographed in Caroline Co., Maryland (9/30/2006).
Below: We examined a tiny toad in southern Anne Arundel Co. and were surprised to find that it was an Eastern Spadefoot Toad. It's always great to find a spadefoot, but it was especially exciting to find one on the Western Shore.
Below: To our delight, we quickly found ourselves witnessing a natural spectacle. We had timed our visit to a mass emergence of tiny Eastern Spadefoots, and hundreds of tiny youngsters scattered before us in the sandy soil.
Below: Just in case the scale of these little guys hadn't jumped out yet...
