Identification: 2 – 3.5 inches long, about the size of a deck of cards. The toad is the probably the most often viewed by the general public. Typical coloration is brown or reddish with one or two warts in the middle of the dark spots on their back. Their white chest typically has dark speckles on it.
Mating: May to June.
Habitat: While the toad usually lives in forests and woodland habitats, it also lives in grasslands, residential yards, and gardens. Can be heard trilling in most water bodies except Spring Creek.
Development: Require 6 weeks to turn into frogs and then 2 to 3 years to reach full adulthood.
The parotoid glands of American toads secrete bufotoxin, a poisonous substance meant to make the toad unpalatable to potential predators. Bufotoxin is a mild poison in comparison to that of other poisonous toads and frogs, but it can irritate human eyes and mucous membranes and is dangerous to smaller animals (such as dogs) when ingested.
(Information taken from Wikipedia and Carleton Arboretum frog surveys)