"The toad's tongue is attached to the lower jaw, at the front edge of the mouth; it can thus be thrust far out, and since it secretes a sticky substance over its surface, any insects which it touches adhere, and are drawn back into the mouth and swallowed. It takes a quick eye to see this tongue fly out and make its catch."
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock - Page 173-174
Have you ever seen a Toad stalk its prey? Well, now you can say you have! Here are a couple of videos of our American Toad eating his Crickets today. Watch closely... not only is his tongue super fast, but Toads swallow their food whole so there is no chewing going on here!
Toads are smart! Did you see how he watched the Cricket in the first video... kept his eye on it until it was in the perfect spot for him to strike? I noticed that he seemed to know where the Crickets were even if he wasn't looking right at them. When he had the chance he would silently turn his body toward it. Pretty neat! The second video was the very last Cricket in the tank and I think he was getting impatient. He ended up running right up and snatching it! Did you know that one of the differences between Frogs and Toads is that Toads can walk and Frogs only hop?
We did a little research on the Toad's body parts and learned that they have nostrils, which are pretty easy to see. Their ears are flat , oval spots behind the eyes and a little lower. They are actually eardrums... they don't have external ears like us. I am guessing these body parts help him know where his prey is and exactly when to strike. Here is our Toad showing off his nostrils and eardrums for you.
After he chowed down on all of the Crickets in the tank, he hopped into his water dish for a soak.
He was in there for a couple of hours. We noticed after a time that the color of his entire body had darkened considerably and his skin appeared to be more moist than before.
"The toad never drinks by taking in water through the mouth, but absorbs it through the skin; when it wishes to drink, it stretches itself out in shallow water and thus satisfies its thirst; it will waste away and die in a short time, if kept in a dry atmosphere."
More Toad Study to come! You can also see all of our previous Toad Study posts HERE.Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock - Page 174
2 comments:
Now that is too cool! Loved the videos! We are on the lookout for an Eastern Box Turtle to keep as a pet in an aquarium.
Love your new blog!
Blessings, Melissa
www.homeschoolblogger.com/melissal89
We have two fire-bellied toads and it is interesting to watch them stalk and eat their crickets.
We have seen more than once, a cricket get on the toads head! The toad will sit and wait until just the right moment and then flip up the cricket and get him right into his mouth. It is awesome.
Thanks for the great blog entry to the carnival. I loved it.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
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