Toads mating!

The black and white string in the top left quadrant is the string of eggs

The toads started singing a little late this year, but we finally have success!

The past few days we've had a group of toads hanging out in the pond skimmer--apparently their favorite place. We've heard a lot of singing the last two nights, and they've still been singing in the morning when I get up.

One pair finally got together to lay eggs. Note how much larger the female is than the male. There are still five males hanging out in the skimmer, so we hope some more females come around tonight.

We especially would like them to find our pond. If they don't, they usually end up in someone's swimming pool, which means all the little tadpoles die when the owners add chlorine.

More on amphibians on Our Habitat Garden website.