Western Toads head for the woods, people help and have fun
by Colin Lovett – PIC Current Producer
Do you remember the old video game Frogger (you can play it by clicking here)? Well, in the Pacific Northwest there’s a creature that likes to play once a summer. The population of the Western Toad explodes, sometimes literally, from Oregon to British Columbia.
Courtesy Oregon Public Broadcasting
These little guys hop and jump by the thousands. Sometimes, roads and bike paths get in the way. That’s where concerned people come in. With buckets. You can watch OPB’s Oregon Field Guide to see them jump last year.
It has become a regular event in some places, with kids being enlisted to grab the little guys, gather them in buckets and dump them to safety. It’s a good thing too. The Western Toad was once common throughout the west, but its numbers are now in decline.
So if you’re near the Cascade mountain range in mid-summer, think about bringing a bucket to help out. Helping animals can be more fun than a video game, even one where the frogs go squish.
To find out more about the Western Toad, please visit the USGS.
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