An earth toad is an amphibian with a bad reputation. Is it so?

Few people like amphibians: It's good if a frog or a toad is simply bypassed, and it's often an animal trying to harm! Unmotivated aggression on the part of a person can be explained only by his proximity - it is strange to want to offend an animal like an earth toad if one knows about it a little.

Amphibia with bad reputation

Dislike for toads goes through generations. Even in the Middle Ages, these animals were treated with special contempt and fear. In all civilized countries it was believed that touching the toad is a sure death. And the cause of death allegedly acted poison, secreted by a toad through the skin.

Also its treachery and danger to our ancestorswas that a person could become a kind of incubator for them. Explained it this way: with bad or untreated water you can drink eggs of toads, and already in the stomach they will hatch safely and will begin active vital activity. For a modern person, this sounds wild, and earlier from a similar condition was very actively treated.

Science has proved that for man a toad does notrepresents no danger. Yes, in case of an extreme situation, an earth toad can release a special protective secret from the skin, but it performs, rather, a deterrent role and will not cause any harm.

Toad or frog: how to distinguish?

For many people it is a matter of principle: who exactly did they meet, whether the frog is a frog? And although there is no danger, neither one, nor another, it is not difficult to distinguish them.

• The toad is larger in size: an adult can reach 15 centimeters in length.
• The body of the toad is loose, the contours are indistinctly outlined. The head is quite low against the ground.
• Skin can have a shade of earthy-gray to dark green. It has a large number of warts, tubercles and glands.
• Toad, unlike the frog, can not jump. She confidently goes to the goal.

Most often people meet amphibiansrest at ponds or in yards where there is a constant source of moisture. So, usually an excellent ground toad in the garden is perfect - it is where the summer residents often meet and unfoundedly frighten.

Life and habits

Like other amphibians, for the season of declinetemperatures toads fall into a hibernation. So that no one disturbs the process of waiting for heat, they burrow into the soil to a depth of up to 10 centimeters, hide under the roots of trees and stumps, and even can use abandoned rodent burrows.

In the warm season, the activity of toads occurs at night. At this time they go out in search of food: it is often possible to meet a toad in the places lit by lanterns in the summer evening.

Quite interesting is the answer to the question of how earth frogs reproduce. First of all, these animals can not do this without water: it is in the pond that they spawn.

Caviar for toads has a special appearance - it resembles a long thin cord. Such cords lie on the bottom of the reservoir or can be braided around algae. Sometimes the length of such cords reaches 5-8 meters!

Tadpoles that appear from the calf, the firsttime does not appear on the surface. They live on the bottom, eating small algae and what is left of the dying animals and plants. Tadpoles develop quite quickly, and after 50-60 days on land a full-fledged green or earth toad can appear.

Fear or help for the gardener?

What should I do if I suddenly encounter an earth toad in a garden or in a garden? Can you touch it, will it not spoil the harvest? Or maybe bring friends and from the toads have nowhere to hide?

In order to answer the question of what toadds do in the garden or the garden, you need to find out what earthy toads eat.

The main food for them are insects. They do not disdain caterpillars, various centipedes, and snails. The toad can not be frightened by a bright coloring or an unusual kind of insect. Having seen the object for breakfast, the toad waddle goes to its goal.

What is the benefit for the gardener? The most direct! The terrestrial toad is an excellent organic way of fighting pests and devouring crops. She is such a sanitary nurse who goes around the entrusted territory in the evenings.

Therefore, having met on your way or a garden thisamphibious, do not need to be like the medieval Europeans and run for an "anti-tuberculosis" antidote or pesticide. Do not beat the animal and do not stomp on it: give way, because it goes on its important affairs, performing its natural function. And the side effect of it is good for a person.