The marsh at Huntley Meadows Park is alive with the sound of frogs and toads—it’s the start of the breeding season.
Yesterday, I captured this shot of an Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus americanus) as he was calling out to females. It’s amazing how long the toad is able to hold that long, high-pitched trill, as much as 20 to 30 seconds according to the Virginia Herpetological Society.
His expanded pouch (officially called a dewlap) reminds me of my childhood days, when I would attempt to blow large bubbles with the ever present bright pink bubble gum. One of my favorite gums was called Bazooka and the individually wrapped pieces of gum included a comic strip starring Bazooka Joe. (For more information about Bazooka, check out this Wikipedia article.)
I’ve decided I want to call this little guy Bazooka Joe and my unofficial name for the Eastern American Toad is the Bubble Gum Toad. As a side note, fellow photographer and blogger Walter Sanford has given nicknames to several of my lenses and he calls my Tamron 150-600mm lens Bazooka Joe. This, of course, is more a reference to the anti-tank rocket launcher than to the bubble gum—the size and length of the lens brings to mind a bazooka. (If you are not familiar with this weapon, check out this Wikipedia article.)
In case you are curious, I captured this image of Bazooka Joe with Bazooka Joe.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
What an incredible shot! By the way I remember the gum well and still chew the occasional piece😊
Thanks. I think the younger generation prefers a softer gum, so I am a little surprised to hear that it is still available. I may have to look for some for old time’s sake.
We are hearing the red winged blackbirds now but so far the frogs have stayed quiet. It should happen any day now, and it will be surprisingly loud as it always is.
We had a couple of record-breaking days above 80 this week and that seems to have brought out all of the frogs and toads. I am amazed at the volume these guys can produce and when there is a chorus, I can hear them from a long way off.
Yes, and it’s a welcome song after a long winter!
Who is this Walter Sanford? He sounds like an interesting character! 😉
He is indeed quite a character.
Perhaps he should audition for the new “World’s Most Interesting Man.” 😉 BTW, nice photo! I’m guessing you shot this photo before we met up (when the sky was still completely overcast), based upon the darker exposure. Good guess?
It was between the time when we first talked and when we actually saw each other. I deliberately underexposed the shot when I took it to avoid some of the harsher highlights I was getting and the area was near the far end of the pool and was a little shaded at the time.
Great shot! I love all the textures in Bazooka Joe’s skin and the light in his eyes.
Thanks, Laura. The lighting was pretty nice, almost like I was shining a spotlight on the toad. There was a whole lot of frolicking going on in the vernal pool where I took this shot. Perhaps you’ll see some of those images in an upcoming post.
I look forward to seeing them.
Fantastic looking toad, I’m sure he’s an absolute hit with the ladies!
That is a great capture Mike. I hear bazooka joes around here, well it may be a cousin since I can never actually find them :). As for the gum, had it in my hair all the time when the bubble burst!!!
In your hair? You must have been an expert at blowing bubbles (or chewed a lot of gum at once). In addition to these toads, that were easy to spot, we have spring peepers which are impossible to spot and Southern Leopard frogs that are somewhere in the middle. When they all are calling, it is almost deafening at times.
Both😜