Our pawpaw saplings seem to attract a wide variety of species from all over the farm. This past week this little Fowler's Toad was hanging out with me while I watered. I couldn't identify if it was a male or a female, but it's definitely an adult. The light colored stripe on its back doesn't appear until adulthood.
We're only a mile from Lake Oconee, so we are on prime breeding ground. They'll be mating and laying clutches of eggs by the thousands, possibly every few days, for the next month or two. A welcome addition to the farm, they'll eat all sorts of insects, and tend to leave the worms alone.
They do have a poisonous secretion emanating from the warts on their back, but it's not highly toxic. They're just trying to make the snakes and birds think twice about how hungry they are before they chow down. Their camouflage, however, is their main defense. It's effective on the woodland floor that they're found in from GA all they way up the East coast to Canada. Good luck little guy, and happy mating season!
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