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Is this a frog or a toad?

6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

This little guy hopped into my outdoor kitchen sink. Frog or toad? Location is Miami Florida USA.





Comments (11)

  • 6 years ago

    I agree....a tree frog of some sort. You can tell by it's toes. I have a couple small stocktank water gardens in my back yard, but it's enough to attract lots of tree frogs. I keep my bedroom window ajar all summer, so I can fall asleep listening to them. They can get unbelievably loud.....but I'll take that sound over human sounds any time! :)

    Miami Cuse thanked catherinet
  • 6 years ago

    Right next to my pond, tonight, I saw this guy. This one is bigger, bigger than my cell phone.


    It's night time, I took some pictures, then it hopped into the pond.


    Is this also a tree frog like the ones I posted in the first picture? There are bumps on it's back, or is this a toad?





  • 6 years ago

    if it's bigger than your cell phone, it's definitely not a tree frog. my guess would be bullfrog. they can get pretty big.

  • 6 years ago

    That's a male cane toad, Rhinella marina. You can see the bulging poison glands back from the eyes. Females get a lot larger.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    First one looks like a Cuban tree frog. They're invasive and eat the native tree frogs and other animals. Quite devastating to local herpetological fauna. Second looks like a cane toad. They can kill larger animals that try to eat them, including dogs.


    Once accurately identified, the best thing for both is to humanely euthanize it.

  • 6 years ago

    How would one safely catch a cane toad?


    I got close to it and it hopped into my koi pond and disappeared. Is there an easy way to catch them?


    If they hatch in my pond will the goldfish that eat the eggs be poisoned? I had two mature goldfish that died in the last two months and I wonder if this is the cause.

  • 6 years ago



    Cane toads lay eggs by the tens of thousands. The eggs are in a stringy-like gel that initially floats, then later sinks. The tadpoles are black with thin tails and like to get around in swarms. Don't know how they affect koi or goldfish, the climate here doesn't allow us to keep those. A lot of the native fish here seem to avoid them.


    Male toads set themselves up near a suitable pool of water and make a loud sound something like a motorbike. Females don't make any sound but are attracted to the call of the males. If you listen out at night you'll know if any want to get up to "funny business" in your pond. They mate in the water. If you google "cane toad call" you should get plenty of sound clips to listen to.


    They're easy to catch at night using a light. Shine the light in their eyes and with your other hand grab them around the hips and legs. They will often eject water (from the rear end), a defense mechanism to confuse predators. It's only water they've stored to keep them going through the day as they don't live in water. The toxic glands are swellings behind the head, easy to avoid touching. Although, I've also seen many of them exude toxins through the skin over a lot of the body. The toxin shouldn't have any effect on your skin, just don't lick your hands afterwards, LOL. But I thoroughly wash my hands after doing the rounds of my place collecting toads.


    Cane toads first turned up here round 10 years ago and I still continually search them out and dispose of them. For every toad I remove there's several native animals I've saved. In the 10 years I've caught several thousand. Handling them with bare hands hasn't had any effect on me, other than making me a toad catching expert. There's no effective predator (here anyway) so your native animals desperately need your help.


    Miami Cuse thanked tropicbreezent
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Have not seen the cane toad again but I can hear them at night.

    Tonight I saw a frog inside my mail box.

    Is this also a tree frog like the one in the first post?

    I am curious why their legs have patches of red color, is this natural or some kind of disease/injury?




  • 5 years ago

    I don't know that species, but it's common for them to have coloured patches like that on the inside of their rear legs. Often they come in handy in identification when distinctions between species aren't very clear.


    Fungal diseases tend show up in frogs as pale patches. It's one of the things that's been wiping out frog populations around the world. That and habitat destruction. One of the reasons they shouldn't be moved from one area to another, it prevents spreading any diseases. Also people should avoid handling them in case they've picked up fungal spores on their hands.


    Cane toads have been a bit sparse here this season but then caught 17 just these last two nights, 5 females and 12 males.

    Miami Cuse thanked tropicbreezent
  • 5 years ago

    So beautiful.