Amazing continued Calling Periods in Southern

Amazing Amphibians Cheryl Bowman

“It’s not easy being green.” - Kermit the e rarely hear all the good stuff about and toads, but we’re no strangers to the myths and folklore! In fairy tales the prince is turned into a frog as punishment, and we are often W told that holding a toad will give us warts. In many Native Canadian legends, frogs are seen as evil spirits. In reality, frogs and toads are a very important part of life on earth. Their life cycle is one of the most fascinating in the kingdom. Frogs and toads are part of the amphibian animal group, which also includes mud puppies, salamanders, and caecilians. Amphibian means “two lives”, accurately describing the frog’s life cycle. They spend the first phase of their life as tadpoles, using gills to breathe underwater. As adults, they have lungs, but can also So What’s the Difference Anyway?? References: breathe directly through Toads are actually just one of the five families of frogs in Canada, but here Better move on Frog, Ron Maris, 1982. are some easy-to-spot differences between the two: For More Information their skin. Amphibians are Contact: The Amphibians and Reptiles of Manitoba, the most abundant form of Frogs Toads Education Department William Preston, 1982. vertebrates ( with Skin Fort Whyte Centre Carol Scott (chart), Manitoba Field Smooth/moist/slimy Thick/dry/bumpy 1961 McCreary Road backbones), and began to Herpetologists, 1995. Shape Sleek/ridges down back Chubby/ridges on head Winnipeg, MB inhabit the earth 300 million R3P 2K9 Amphibian Voice, Metro Toronto Zoo, years ago, before reptiles, Legs Long Short 1997, 1999, 2000. (204) 989-8358 birds, and mammals. Ears Large membrane Small membrane www.everwonder.com email: [email protected] Amphibians were also the Local Residents Leopard, Wood, Canadian Toad www.allaboutfrogs.org first vertebrates to leave water Boreal Chorus Frogs www.cciw.ca for life on land. In Manitoba we have 8 species of frogs and 4 species of toads.

000709 Printed Nov. 2000 Amazing Amphibians continued

Beware: The Silent visitors such as birds, squirrels, and Place stones to form a rocky Frog Facts and Toad can actually change colors pond to pond. Toads have big Spring chipmunks. burrow about 10 cm high with a Tidbits between grey and green, to stay bumps on their hind feet that they All members of a given ecosystem sandy floor. Toads love to dig in hidden from predators. use as shovels to help them dig. For more information on Canadian Some amazing amphibian play a vital role in maintaining the these rocky retreats. And how do those frogs climb frog populations and how you can adaptations: “Freeze-tolerant” species health of the environment. Because trees? The Tree Frog has sticky toe participate in studies check out Start composting! Compost Breathing skin? produce large amounts of frogs and toads can breathe That’s right! As pads on the tips of their toes that www.cciw.ca/emanops. heaps are a favorite spot for glycogen which flows through through their skin as adults, they grown adults, frogs and toads help them stick to bark and leaves. hibernating frogs and toads. their blood as anti-freeze during are excellent indicators of have lungs but can also breathe their winter hibernation. Other environmental health. If they Frogs and toads are able to through their skin. species hibernate in the soil disappeared, Winnipeg would not recognize the habitat where they tongues Frogs have long sticky below the frost line. The Wood only be more mosquito-infested grew up. So, your backyard attached to the front of their Frog can be found as far north than at present, but we would also amphibians will return to the same mouths. This enables the frog to as the Arctic!!! miss the singing announcement of spot to breed year after year. shoot out it’s tongue a long way spring. Would spring be the same in order to capture prey. The (yes…we without a chorus of frogs? Building a Toad Abode find this guy in Manitoba) What you’ll need: a medium-sized secretes a milky poison from a Leap for Frogs clay flower pot, acrylic paints, a gland located behind the eye. We are lucky in Manitoba that none paint brush, and a trowel But don’t worry, it’s only of our amphibian species are poisonous to predators. To be endangered.....YET! But frog What to do: safe, always wash your hands populations are declining around 1. Wash and dry the flower pot. after holding a toad. the world. Scientists believe these 2. Paint leaf and flower shapes, Aside from producing poison, “And the Award declines may be a result of Frog Friendly Yards using browns, greens, and other toads can escape from predators increased UV radiation, global Goes to...” Have a lot of frogs in your yard? earth colors on the outside of by discharging water from their warming, and chemical pollutants. Amphibians love to dine on the pot, including the bottom. bladder, or swelling up to twice Frog World Records The biggest threat to frog and toad mosquitoes, flies, grasshoppers, their body size, making it tough populations is the loss of their 3. Once the paint is dry, go outside Newest Frog: the Eleutherodactylus slugs, , and almost anything for them to be swallowed. Mink habitat - wetlands. In Winnipeg, and find a sheltered spot among iberia (has no common name yet) that moves. Frogs therefore help to frogs have a nasty odor - smells wetland areas are often drained, your plants. found in Iberia, Cuba in 1996. keep the pest population under like rotten onions! and ditches are sprayed to control. No more need for sprays 4. Lay the pot on its side, and use Smallest Frog: it’s a tie...between the discourage mosquitoes. In fact, and chemicals with frogs in the the trowel to bury it halfway in It is said that a toad can eat over Newest Frog (see above) and the 75% of Canada’s wetlands have picture! the soil. 200 insects in one evening! Gold Frog (Psyllophryne didactyla) of disappeared for agricultural Brazil, each only about 1 cm long purposes. This leaves very little Want to make your 5. Scatter some dead leaves and In order to produce their lovely (about the size of a penny). standing freshwater for our frogs to yard frog-friendly? debris in the bottom of the toad chorus, frogs take air into their call home. house. lungs, close off their nostrils, Biggest Frog: the Goliath Frog Try the following: and then move a complex series (Conraua goliath) of West Africa You can help to make urban areas 6. Check back in a few days to see Leave leaf litter around hedges of muscles and tendons to with a body length = 30 cm, and amphibian friendly by protecting if any of the debris has moved. and other vegetation. Leaves inflate and deflate their vocal weight = 3.3 kg (comparable to a wet areas where they breed. Frogs If not, try moving it to another provide great hiding spots for sac. large house cat). shady location. If so, and toads also depend on shade to frogs and collect moisture in the congratulations on your new Never seen a frog in your yard? Oldest Frog: a European Common move from one body of water to the morning. next. Therefore, it is important to tenants!!!! Well, frogs and toads are Toad who lived to be 40 years old have vegetation around ponds and Plant a garden. Toads can often nocturnal, hunting mainly at (average: 4-15 yrs). streams, so they can travel during be found hanging out at the night and resting during the Earliest Known Frog: appeared low water periods without edges of gardens, waiting for an day. during the Jurassic period, 190 becoming heat stressed. Building a insect meal. Frog Feet & Toad Toes Frogs are attracted to prey by million years ago. pond in your backyard is a toad-ally Frogs are perhaps best known for Place a few logs under bushes or movement. Their enormous awesome way of both helping to their leaping abilities. It’s not Longest Jump: a frog named Santjie trees in a shady part of your eyes bulge down the back of the protect amphibian habitat, and surprising that they are such at a derby in South Africa jumped yard. Frogs and toads can stay frog’s mouth. When eating they attracting these bug-eating magnificent leapers when you ~ 10.2 metres. cool and moist while dining on essentially chew with their creatures into your yard. A pond in consider the fact that a frog’s legs garden slugs and bugs. eyeballs. your yard will not only add beauty are longer than its body. A Leopard and character, but provide a Watch your step! Frogs and Frog can leap 13 times its own watering hole for neighborhood toads are so well camouflaged length!!! But these fabulous feet are they’re easy to miss! Tree frogs not only used for leaping from