This Amphibian is found across most of Europe (however not in Ireland, Iceland and the Med Islands), you’ll struggle to see them most of the time though as they like to keep hidden away during the day. Dusk is the time when they become more active. In the evening time they come out to hunt their prey, of which they are not picky (see below).

Toads were actually at first called Rana Bufo by a Swedish Biologist called Carl Linnaeus. Rana linked all frogs and toads, however toads have now been reclassified into a different group called Bufonidae, the true toad group.

Prey: Larvae, Insects, Spiders, Slugs, Worms, Slow Worms, Grass Snakes and Harvest Mice are all swallowed whole.

Do toads make for a good pet?

Until I came to do this research for this article I hadn’t actually realised that people keep The Common Toad as a pet. If that idea interests you then you can find more information here: https://www.wikihow.com/Keep-a-Wild-Caught-Toad-As-a-Pet

What you should bear in mind though is that Common Toads should be fed three to six food items every other day, so make sure you keep a good stock of the above food items in your larder.

Breeding Season

The Common Toad is usually a loner at heart. They come together in the Breeding season in large numbers congregating towards specific breeding ponds. The loud deep croaks that you will probably associate with Toads (or Frogs) are to warn away other rivals either in their territory or during competition for a female in the Breeding season. Once fertilised the females will lay their eggs in a long strung out pattern. These will later hatch out into Tadpoles if not eaten! From here it may take up to several months for the Tadpoles to develop limbs and undergo their metamorphosis into diminutive toads, from here they will move to the land where they will remain for most of their adult lives.

Decline?

There has perhaps been some decline in the overall range and area in which Toads thrive, however the overall numbers remain good and they are on the Least Concerned classification of the ICUN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) list of threatened species. The main threat that toads face is loss of habitat and breeding grounds, so build more ponds!