Common Toad
General information
The Common Toad is known for their famous croaking vocals, their thick, warty skin and nocturnal activity. Young Common Toads prefer smaller insects such as aphids and as adults they consume a variety of invertebrates like earthworms, snails and crickets.
Around Valentine's Day, Common Toads take part in a mass migration to their breeding ponds. These tend to be large deep ponds. Due to the tadpoles containing toxins that make them unpleasant for predators to eat, they can survive living in the deep ponds containing fish.
Latin name - Bufo bufo
Class - Amphibia
Order - Anura
Family - Bufonidae
IUCN Status - Least Concern
Habitat - Woodlands, Scrub, Wetlands and gardens
Distribution - Across UK and Europe
Average Lifespan
Their wild life span is up to 4 years.
Threats
Busy roads blocking migration paths, leading to many killed on the road.
Fun Fact
They prefer to crawl rather than hop and hibernate over winter under log piles!
Our Residents
Our Common Toads are found on your left as you enter the Main Building. We currently have a breeding programme with a small group of adults producing spawn each spring. The young are then wild released into our wildlife pools on site!
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