Western Toads are like most other amphibians - they spend their lives in water and on land. Where you find them depends on the time of the year. We hired artist, Briony Penn, to paint a series of pictures that show what toads get up to, and where they are, in each season of the year.
We are installing Briony's art on signs at toad breeding ponds on Vancouver Island.
The pictures highlight the vulnerabilities of toads at different times of the year and show the variety of habitats that they need. Conserving each type of habitat and making sure that there are connections between them is key to helping Western Toads survive.
- Toads need wetlands for breeding in the spring. Shallow areas along shore are important places for egg laying and for tadpoles to grow up feeding on the film of algae and bacteria growing on rocks and grassy vegetation.
- Once they transform into tiny toadlets in summer, they need to be able to climb out on shore and get accustomed to living on land. They spend several weeks staying close to shore.
- Once the toadlets are ready, they disperse into surrounding meadows and forests. Here they will spend most of the fall feeding on a variety of insects, slugs and earthworms.
- When the weather gets cold, they move into underground burrows to hibernate over winter.
- It takes 3 or 4 years for Western Toads to grow into adults. Adults spend most of their time on land and can travel more than 5 km away from wetland breeding sites each summer. They move back across the landscape to be closer to their breeding sites before they overwinter in burrows.
With some effort, we can protect the habitats that toads need throughout their lifecycle and enjoy their presence. This blog will show how conservation projects can set aside part of the shoreline, forest and meadows where toads live. We will also look at projects that have created crossing structures to help toads migrate safely across roads so their habitats remain connected!
