The American Toad Calls

This week you may hear male toads trilling, which can last a full 30 seconds! To hear their call, click here and listen.

Toads lay their eggs in the water in long strands of 3,000-20,000 eggs! When the toad tadpoles hatch they swim together in schools, something that frog tadpoles usually don't do.

Did you know? Toads have thicker skin than other amphibians, so they can live further from water. The large "warts" behind a toad's eyes are called paratoid glands. These glands make a toxin that can inflame the mouth of a predator and make them feel queasy. Predators include birds, small mammals, and snakes. In turn, adult toads eat all sorts of insects--even slugs!

Learn more: Click on the link for the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center to hear the call of the eastern American toad and 10 additional species of frogs in the Upper Midwest Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative.

Raccoons Have Kits

Last fall, these animals ate until their body weight increased by an incredible 120%. They then spent the winter taking long naps and using up those fat reserves. Now that spring has arrived they are ready to have their young--4 kits. After mating, only the female raccoon will care for the kits in hollow trees and caves.

Two months from now the kits will start hunting at night wtih their mom, looking for fruit, nuts, crayfish, insects, rodents, frogs, fish, and bird eggs. They'll also have to keep an eye out for coyotes, wolves, and large birds of prey. If they are careful they may live up to 19 years (average age is about 5)!

Did you know? Raccoons weigh 12-35 pounds, with the males being larger!

Learn more: Animal Diversity Web

The Song Sparrow is Calling

If you are walking near Minister Lake, you are likely to hear this bird. They prefer open, shrubby places near water. Song sparrows snack on fruit, seeds, and insects. Like several other species, the males have arrived before the females to scope out and defend a territory this spring.

These amazing vocalists can sing 20 different tunes with many variations which they learn from neighboring birds. The more advanced their song, the more appealing they are to females. Once a male finds a mate, the two will build a cup-like nest of grasses and weeds on the ground. They may then have as many as 3 broods (batches) of eggs over the summer.

Did you know? Some birders say the song sparrow sounds like "Hip, hip, hip hurray boys, spring is here." Click here to see if you agree.

Learn more: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

​Nature's Fiddles

Fiddleheads are the young, coiled leaves of ferns (which look like the curved end of a fiddle). Some species of fiddleheads, like those from the ostrich fern, are edible when cooked and taste a bit like asparagus. Other species can be toxic if eaten. Keep an eye out as new oak ferns unfurl in the woods of CWES, and sensitive ferns appear near Minister Lake.

Learn more: Cofrin Center for Biodiversity