Common name: Common Toad
Also known as: European Toad
Scientific name: Bufo bufo
Size: Up to 18cm
Colour: Ranges from green to brown.
Description
A warty looking hopping creature, with bulbous eyes and wide mouth.
Distribution
Found throughout the UK including Corfe Mullen. We often have one hiding in our garden.
Diet
Insects, larvae, spiders, slugs and worms which they catch with their sticky tongue. Larger toads sometimes catch slow worms, small grass snakes and even harvest mice (which they swallow alive). They hunt at night, and most active in wet weather.
Habitat
They mostly live on land in dark, damp places which can include gardens (under plant pots, under logs, etc. The females lay their strings of eggs in ponds - so you may see them in your garden pond.
Did you know
Baby toads are called toadpoles.
At certain times of the year, toads sometimes need to be helped across busy roads as they travel to ponds to spawn. People will pick them up and put them in buckets, so they don't get squashed. Then deposit them on the other side of the road.
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