What is the western toad?

Western toad was once the most abundant toad in the Western United States, but has since decreased in many areas. This toad is in some states in the US that ranges from other Canada from South Canada and immersion in Northern Mexico, but almost disappeared from others. The scientific name of the Western toad is bufo boreas .

As with any toad, western toads have warts on the skin. Western toad warts are small, roughly circular and reddish -brown in colors raised in dark, almost black lines. Its skin is either dark green or brown. Unlike some amphibians, western toads have horizontal pupils. This universal habitat is one of the reasons why they were so abundant in the past. These toads dig up burrows or use abandoned burrows of small mammals to hibernate in colder months.

Although Western toad lives on the ground, it behaves in water. Most toad usually live near water bodies but the species can migrate up to 2, 5 miles (4 km) to breeding. The eggs are laid in shallow water. Tadpoles appear in May to September and take at least two months to ripen into the frog. The period of metamorphosis for tadps groups is very variable and depends on the temperature of the water in which they live: warmer water, the faster the tadpoles grow.

Western toads mostly eat insects. Their usual diet is spiders, ants, Millipedes, Dad Long Legs and Beetles. They can also eat crayfish, snails or ground worms. These toad are a wide range of animal prey, including mammals of all sizes, as well as birds.

Although Western toad was once the largest of any kind of toad in many Western states, this species has fallen through Begsmune 21 ^st

century. The exact cause of the decline is vague, but many theories have been introduced. Pollution of reducing the immune system otherwise healthy toad, which makes them prone to previously do not endangerThe disease that does not endanger life is one theory. Another thinning ozone layer that allows more ultraviolet light to reach the ground, and thus kill tadpoles is another. Deforestation is also a clear contributor.

Scientists continue to investigate the causes of the decrease in Western toad. Despite the declining population, however, this toad is not yet considered endangered. Although it is almost extinct in some areas, such as Utah, in other countries it is still relatively common.