ARIZONA STAR (Tucson) 05 October 06 Record of reptile encounters includes kissing a toad who was no prince (Lee Reynolds)

Tucson, Arizona: Years ago, when I was a volunteer in the Reptile House at the Los Angeles Zoo, there was a large poster that proclaimed "Kiss a toad tonight." We all thought it was pretty funny. At the time my specialty was herpetology, which most folks think is the study of reptiles. It is, but the category also includes amphibians — frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and others.

Although my real love was the reptiles, I had an affection for frogs and toads, especially toads. I've always felt they have vivid personalities for being such warty and lumbering characters.

I like handling toads; they have a lovely sort of blimpy feel to them. Of course, they do have that annoying habit of peeing on you the moment they feel inhibited. This particular characteristic happens to be most practical: It lightens the animal considerably, making escape much easier.

Many years later, when I was living in a heavily wooded area of Northern California, toads were nightly visitors to our property in the warmer months. These were large toads. So big, in fact, that you could hear them approaching through the detritus on the ground.

For several years, one gigantic toad enjoyed sitting in the center of the drive to the house. If I happened to be returning from an evening meeting in town, it did no good whatsoever to roll down the car window and tell this dude to move, even though toads have very good hearing.

He would just stare at me as if to say, "I was here first." I had to get out of the car and physically move him to the side of the road, then wash my hands the minute I got in the house.

I will never forget the night I actually kissed a toad. Yes, I am a bit skewed, if you hadn't already figured that out. I was bidding goodnight to some dinner guests at the front door when someone said, "Oh, look at that huge toad!"

Sure enough, there was a placid-looking monster toad sitting on the doormat. I'm still not sure whether it was bravado or a tad too much wine, but I couldn't resist picking that guy up and kissing him — yes, on the mouth. He immediately transferred something strange-feeling to my lips. It was a truly gross bug he'd been in the process of enjoying.

That was the last time I kissed a toad. He didn't even have the decency to turn into a prince, though he did pee on me.

On to the present. As I've written before, I moved to Tucson with my mother about 3 1/2 years ago. In that time, I don't believe I've seen an amphibian until one early morning last week when I noticed the dogs rolling around what looked like pebbles. I thought they were tiny frogs. I was mistaken, as I soon found when trying to research them.

After many frustrating hours with my limited written material (I sold most of my books when we moved) and the Internet, I did something smart. I called Arizona Game and Fish in Tucson. Fortunately, I had examined several of these amphibians carefully. I was connected immediately to an expert on frogs and toads.

With my description, including the fact the critters have horizontal pupils, I was told I am seeing the Great Plains Toad, just metamorphosed from the tadpole stage. I am seeing hundreds of them.

These toads, like many others, are monsoon breeders, and we had a really fine monsoon this year. The toads' technical (taxonomic) name is Bufo cognatus. I gather the call of the males, when they congregate in seasonal pools to breed, can be deafening. A single female can lay up to 20,000 eggs!

Most will die, of course. The young are not mature for 3 to 5 years. These animals have a wide range but prefer loose sand or soil so they can burrow until the next rains occur. Burrowing is a great survival measure in both arid and frigid climates.

Our local Bufo cognatus can wait a long time for another downpour and the resultant puddles and pools to nurture its young. They breed from April through September, but only when it's wet. There's good news about these amphibs: They eat numerous insects, cutworms being a favorite. Look for the little creatures now before we go dry. (Then again, we may get lucky with some more rain.)

Do not forget a great resource; Arizona Game and Fish. They are friendly, they are knowledgeable and they will help you with all manner of wildlife questions.

And remember this, too: Do NOT kiss toads.
Record of reptile encounters includes kissing a toad who was no prince

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