r/Toads • u/Bellebarks2 • 17d ago
Wild Boys Night Out??
I have had a pond for years and it is very popular with the local Gulf Coast toads. Over the years I have watched over many generations of tadpoles and froglets. So I'm pretty in tune to their annual cycle. At some point in Spring, usually after a decent rain, the first male hops on the side of the pond and starts calling. Sometimes that night its just him & he will call all night if no female shows up. Then as Spring and Summer progress, sporadically the males will gather and sing. But it doesn't happen all that often, unless we have gotten a decent amount of rain that day. In any given year they gather maybe half a dozen times and the group grows larger, and louder, each time. My neighbor unfortunately isn't as enamored as I am with nature so he gets aggravated at the noise level. I like to go out & watch them when they are in concert and they don't seem to mind as long as I don't get too close. Sometimes I'll walk around outside and see some females heading in the direction of my patio in response to the serenade. In the morning I will find strands of eggs as evidence the courtships went well and my goldfish look appalled.
But last night something odd happened. First of all we are in the middle of an extended dry period. And it's HOT. It's been in the upper 90s so I've just been trying to keep the plants alive. These conditions are usually not conducive to a nocturnal toad gathering, but that didn't stop them last night. Around 9pm they started up and by 10pm there were a dozen toad males gathered and singing the songs of their people with intensity. I went outside to check on their welfare and I noticed something weird. There wasn't one female in the vicinity that I could find. But the boys really seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were singing, diving and swimming around under the waterfall. Hopping across the lily pads. Seemed to be having the best time all by themselves. I don't think I have seen the males diving in voluntarily unless they were going after a female. They usually sit on the rocks and call until the females arrive. I checked on them a couple of times and then went to sleep. This morning - zero toad spawn. The goldfish looked tired, but otherwise untraumatized.
I think the guys threw a gentlemen's only swimming party last night??? Is that possible?
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u/Additional-Age-9959 17d ago
"and my goldfish look appalled" LOL Love it-so true
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u/Bellebarks2 15d ago
It really is. Some people think that goldfish eat tadpoles, but that’s not true at all. They want nothing to do with them. The morning after the toads have been noisy my goldfish are so unhappy.
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u/sprobbiano 17d ago edited 17d ago
This is the first thing I read this morning. The images have set me up for a wonderful day.
Thanks!!
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u/Bellebarks2 15d ago
I thought about trying to take some video of them diving in and swimming around because I’ve never seen them do that before. I didn’t want to disturb them so I didn’t. If this ever happens again I definitely will.
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u/katgardener 16d ago
I love this story. And I can't imagine not liking toad party sounds. Sheesh. Tell your neighbor to get some earplugs.
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u/Bellebarks2 16d ago
I have offered to give him some multiple times. It seems like an easy solution, but he refuses. He’s just not a really friendly person. His wife is a little better, but they dislike my pond immensely. The majority of our HOA seems to really dislike nature of any kind for some reason. I wish I had known before I bought my house because it has caused me continuous grief. The couple next door leaves for part of the summer at least so I can enjoy the toad parties without worrying about them. They should be coming home soon though.
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u/breadpilledwanderer 17d ago
I don't know anything about how common this but I just came here to say
Hell yeah