With apologies to P.G. Wodehouse

Living is northern New Mexico is not easy for any creature, but seems particularly challenging for an amphibian. Even if you somehow manage to find food and shelter, and avoid dying out, how on earth can you reproduce when surface water is so rare?

Nonetheless, Woodhouse’s toad (Anaxyrus woodhousii) seems to be doing just fine here.

We first came across them in a nearby arroyo a few years ago. They are about 3″ – 4″ in length and their color and pattern fits right into the background.

Since then, we have run across them in the yard from time to time. They seem especially drawn to irrigation control boxes, which are dark, protected, and often moist.

Terry has a particularly good garden for toads. He has a small pond and some good protected spots. He has seen a toad (or maybe more, they all look similar to me) occasionally for quite some time.

As an homage to P.G. Wodehouse (acknowledging the difference in spelling) we have been calling the toad(s)”Jeeves.”

Jeeves hangs out in and near the pond.

He has also been found in the irrigation box some distance away.

After a little research, it became clear that Woodhouse’s toads are well adapted for life here in the dry highlands. They are widespread throughout western North America, from Montana and North Dakota in the north, all the way south to the Gulf coast, and from the Missouri river in the east to western Arizona and Utah in the west. Their range abuts those of several closely related species, such as Fowler’s toad (A. fowleri) and the Arizona toad (A. microscaphus), and hybrids of these species can be common.

Woodhouse’s toads make use of many habitat types, including grasslands, pine forests, agricultural land, suburbs, and, of course, pinyon-juniper woodlands. They prefer loose or sandy soil, presumably because of the need to burrow to escape summer heat and winter cold. They are active from spring to fall, with specific dates depending on latitude and elevation, and feed on a wide variety of insects and other arthropods.

Given the general lack of surface water here, it is surprising that they can reproduce at all. However, Woodhouse’s toads are capable of traveling several kilometers, and are not picky about where they breed. They breed in ponds, swamps, river backwaters, lake shallows, along with human constructed lakes and ponds. Larvae hatch three days after mating, and take 4 – 7 weeks to mature into little toadlets.

Glands in their skin produce noxious secretions, but predators such as snakes, birds, skunks and raccoons still take their toll on toadlets and adults. Motor vehicles also cause significant mortality.

For the moment, populations of Woodhouse’s toad appear to be largely stable. Let’s hope that they will be able to keep up with the ever-warming and changing environment.

Although I made use of a few other articles, the best overall source of information was the following chapter:

Dodd, C. K. (2023) Anaxyrus woodhousii (Girard, 1854) Woodhouse’s toad. in Frogs of the United States and Canada. (pp 158-167). Johns Hopkins University Press.