Have you ever heard crickets in the springtime? You may think so but what you were probably hearing was really American toads. American toads are common in the eastern United States and Canada. In the spring males look for a mate. They call out to receptive females by expanding the pouch on the underside of their throat called a dewlap. The mating call sounds similar to the sound of crickets. The easy way to distinguish between the two is that frogs and toads croak in the spring while crickets sing in the fall. So the next time that you think you are hearing crickets in the spring look around the water and you might see a toad like the one above.

American Toad.

The American toad is a common amphibian found in the eastern half of the United States and Canada. They have lungs which they use to breathe but like other amphibians they need to keep their skin moist. They are found in a variety of moist habitats where they hunt mostly insects, snails and slugs. To help them avoid predators they can produce a toxic chemical from special glands called paratoid glands.
In the spring male American toads begin to look for an eligible female with which to mate. They will sing to the females by expanding the pouch in their throat, called a dewlap, and making a call that sounds similar to that of crickets. Willing females will swim out to the male and they will mate. The female will then lay her eggs which will attack to aquatic vegetation. About a week later the tadpoles will begin to hatch. I took these photographs in April as the mating season began.