They live on every continent except Antarctica. ); The Cape rain frog was the first African frog species to be scientifically described by Linnaeus in 1758, but it was originally named Cape rain frogs are generally seldom seen, except during and after heavy rains. Unless you have seen a toad nearby, beware of other causes of foaming such as eating rat poison or drinking poisonous substances.
If you see a toad on the road, please pick it up and put it on the other side of the road (in the same direction in which it was going).Keep your eyes open for Western leopard toads on the roads particularly between July and September when they are breeding and in November when the young toadlets are making their way from the water to land.
Frogs are eaten by hammerkop birds which are known as “lightning birds” or “birds of witches”.
For this reason these people would be terrified to collect water from rivers in which there are frogs living.In Xhosa tradition it is thought that frogs are used as uMuthi.
Amietia fuscigula.
The Choco use waxy leaves to pick up the frogs and dip their blow darts in the frogs’ skin secretions. They are threatened by urban and agricultural development as well as invasive fauna and flora.When the seasonal wetland starts to dry up, micro frogs bury themselves under the mud and hibernate during the dry season.Rose’s mountain toadlets live only in fynbos marshes in certain mountainous areas of the southwestern Cape and are endemic to the Table Mountain National Park. They have short, stubby toes that are thick and unwebbed.The Cape rain frog is a burrowing species. It is thought that they use visual or chemical cues instead to communicate with one another.Their back legs are adapted for running and crawling rather than jumping. The Cape Flats or micro frog is the smallest frog in southern Africa and is critically endangered No snake will purposely attack you. They live in natural vegetation, on farms and in compost heaps and log piles in gardens, but move to water, especially wetlands, to mate and lay their eggs. “It seems to me that if you wait until the frogs and toads have croaked their last to take some action, you’ve missed the point.”“Frogs do for the night what birds do for the day... they give it a voice.”– Dr Archie Carr, University of Florida Zoology professor Toads also have short back legs for walking rather than jumping. They inflate and float in water, but are not able to swim, and can therefore drown if they can’t reach ground quickly enough.Cape rain frogs start calling in winter just before the rains start. Cape rain frog, Cape short-head frog, headless frog, hunched toad, Linnaeus’s rain frog, Linnaeus’s short-headed frog, short-headed frog, South African rain frog, South African short-headed frog (Eng. Large-mouthed frog Amietia vertebralis. The frogs of the Western Cape. They spend most of their lives underground and emerge before the rainy season starts.Their diet consists of mainly worms, termites and other insects.Cape rain frogs play a vital role in the ecosystem and in the food chain. An indicator species is “a species whose status provides information on the overall condition of the ecosystem and of other species in that ecosystem. This is when they start to breed and feed.It has a round body with a bloated head and a snout with forward-facing eyes. Instead of flowing all year round they now only flow during the rainy season. The legs are shorter than the length of the body. These toads spend a fair amount of time inside burrows where they forage for food, mainly insects. Because they breathe through their skins, they are highly susceptible to toxins and poisons in Frogs and toads also provide humans with medicine and eat insects, e.g.
Photo by Anton Pauw