When it comes to camouflage, size does not always matter. Last Wednesday as I was exploring in Prince William County here in Virginia, both a large toad and a small frog were so well hidden that I did not see either of them until I almost literally stepped on them, which prompted them to move and reveal their presence.
I was really startled on Wednesday when a large toad suddenly leaped upwards right in front of me, exploding out of a covering of fallen leaves. I think that this is an Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus americanus), judging by its large size, but there is a chance that it is a Fowler’s Toad.
The tiny Eastern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) in the second photo blended in so well with the sandy edge of a stream that I initially did not see him until he moved a bit. The texture and color of his skin made him so hard to spot that when I focused on his eye in my camera’s viewfinder, I could not see the contours of the frog’s body.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 