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What Defense Does A Warty Toad Frog Have Against Oklahoma Predators?

If you were forced to choose, you would do well to live out life if you took on the appearance and persona of a toad. Oh, sure, all of that warty skin might make it difficult to get a date on Saturday night, but there are other things to consider. Frogs jump. Toads hop. Frogs have to leap away from danger. Toads just grudgingly move aside. Those bumps on the toad's skin secrete a foul substance if they should happen to be chewed on by the domestic dog. Anyone who has seen the foam-slathered mouth of a toad-harassing dog can attest to that fact.

Then again, one has to consider the danger posed by amphibian-eating snakes. Toads have yet one more trick up their sleeve (that is, of course, if toads wore shirts). If perchance a snake attempts to cram a toad down its gullet, the toad gulps air and inflates itself to such an extent that the snake has to spit out the uncooperative meal.

Lest you begin to think that life is all peaches and cream for the toad, you need to consider the one species of snake that specializes in capturing and consuming toads: the hog-nosed snake. Although rarely seen, this snake lives hereabouts. Hog-nosed snakes have a pair of extra-fancy teeth in the rear of their mouth. These dental daggers are designed to puncture and deflate a toad. Hog-nosed snakes are the one predator the toads endeavor to elude.

Neil Garrison was the longtime naturalist at a central Oklahoma nature center. His email is atlatlgarrison@hotmail.Com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: American toad found in your Oklahoma back yard has trick up its sleeve

'Super Secret Frog Lab' At Omaha's Zoo Has Big Job Saving Amphibians

Tucked away in the orangutan complex at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium is what curator Jessi Krebs calls, with a relish to his voice, the super secret frog lab.

It's where Krebs and his small staff go about the business of saving frogs, toads and other amphibians from extinction. Or at least, they give it their best shot.

The Puerto Rican crested toad room at the Amphibian Conservation Area. Each container offers the perfect habitat.

HENRY DOORLY ZOO AND AQUARIUM

Since 2005, the Amphibian Conservation Area has released 131,211 animals back into the wild — from the critically endangered Puerto Rican crested toad to the dusky gopher frog — hoping to shore up dwindling populations through reproduction and reintroduction.

Amphibians are the most significantly threatened group of vertebrates in the world.

"I measure success by kind of looking at the worse-case scenario," Krebs said. "Nothing has gone extinct on our watch, and I'm pretty proud of that."

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The staff cares for hundreds of amphibians in 14 temperature-controlled rooms in a 3,800 square-foot facility that is closed to the public. There's a specialized wastewater treatment system, an insect culturing area and exact disinfection protocols to ensure the entire space remains pathogen-free.

The amphibians live in what Krebs prefers to call habitats instead of cages. Each, after extensive research, is built to be the perfect little ecosystem for its inhabitants.

"We change weather conditions to introduce the reproductive mode," Krebs said.

Derek Benson is a member of the small staff that works with hundreds of animals at the Amphibian Conservation Area.

HENRY DOORLY ZOO AND AQUARIUM photos

In other words, they make it rain.

Some of the amphibians hibernate, which the center mimics by putting them in carefully controlled refrigerators. Then comes their spring, prime reproduction time, and it begins to rain in their habitat, just like the vegetables being watered at the grocery store, Krebs said.

They can make it rain for days or minutes. It can be monsoon season or a drought, whatever the animals need to reproduce.

"Animals are very motivated by weather patterns and availability of resources," Krebs said. "We follow those patterns that mother nature creates."

Trying to save a species can be frustrating, Krebs said. It's daunting to release an animal back into an environment when you don't see a change in the human behavior that caused the decline.

But they're working on that along with several other agencies. All have a role, from the field biologists who do the counting and studying to the state and federal agencies that protect habitat.

"We don't just let things go," Krebs said. "This is a collaborative effort with state agencies, federal agencies, universities and non-government organizations. What we are good at is keeping animals healthy, happy and alive and reproducing under managed care. That's what zoos are good at; that's our strength."

While some might not see the benefit to saving a toad or frog, instead of a polar bear or baby elephant, Krebs says that without baby toads you won't see baby mammals. Many species need that food source for survival.

Because of the decline in amphibians, he said, there's also been a drop in the population of some of the bird and animal species that feed on them.

"Amphibians are there to eat things and be eaten by things," Krebs said. "We don't realize how much insect control amphibians do. A baby newt can eat 30 mosquito larvae in a day. If we take it out of the system, who is going to eat those baby mosquitoes?"

Work done since the 1990s to save the Wyoming toad, which had been reduced to 10 animals, inspired longtime director Lee Simmons, and the center has been supported by the zoo's general fund ever since. A percentage of each membership or the purchase of a stuffed frog or elephant contributes to the cause.

"You guys can do this," Simmons told the staff according to Krebs. "He said, 'Let me give you a bunch of space and the resources,' and we ran with it."

As soon as construction began, at the time utilizing a new concept for biosecurity not seen before in zoos, organizations started approaching the zoo for help, such as Iowa did with its blue-spotted salamander. They also have species from Utah, California, Wyoming, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Panama, Florida and China.

Derek Benson works out in the field in Wyoming.

HENRY DOORLY ZOO AND AQUARIUM

As curator, Krebs is in charge of the whole operation. Also on the staff is supervisor Andy Reeves, keepers Derek Benson, Ginnie Dunlap and Trevor Henderson and Jeremiah Duncan, who holds a grant-funded position.

Krebs said while he's fascinated by all animals, reptiles and amphibians are his passion.

"They tend to get the short end of the stick," he said. "Think about the snake. That animal has been dealt a really bad hand. It's a persecuted animal that absolutely doesn't deserve that. There's a part of me that wants to change that."

The staff has worked with the Wyoming toad since the 1990s. "We demonstrated our staff had the skill to care for these animals and put them back (into the wild)," Jessi Krebs said.

HENRLY DOORLY ZOO AND AQUARIUM

Sometimes, Krebs said, it's not as easy to save a species that doesn't have a big economic impact. But more is being learned about amphibians every day, he said, and their possible benefits to mankind.

The chemical makeup of a frog's skin, for example, can help in the manufacturing of HIV blockers, pain medications and antibacterial drugs for staph infections.

Despite challenges, many conservation programs that started 10 to 15 years ago are still going, Krebs said. "We have interest and we continue every year to increase the number of animals going back in most of our programs. Those are our successes."

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Croaking Frog Sounds Like Its Singing An Impromptu Performance To Passing Hikers

A croaking frog sounded like it was singing an impromptu performance to passing hikers. Footage shows the tiny amphibian camouflaging on the grassy wet trail while whistling three notes repeatedly in Sichuan province, China's Mount Emei, on August 8. Due to its colour closely resembling the soil, the animal was not easily spotted except when its throat expanded whenever it sang, amusing the tourist. Frogs croak for a variety of reasons, such as to attract mates, defend territory, communicate with other frogs, or release stress when threatened.

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