Bad news for the princesses: the toad is also in danger of extinction and soon there will be no one to kiss; In recent years there has been a 55 percent decrease in the number of spawning sites in Israel
Tamar Nahari, voila! news
It's a little hard to believe, but the threat of the extinction of wild animals has also reached the toad. The strange creatures, the breaststrokers, which were once at least as common as the Barla, stopped croaking at night. The latest estimate speaks of a few thousand individuals throughout the country, at only about 60 spawning sites. Data from surveys conducted in the last decade indicate a decrease of about 55 percent in the number of spawning sites in Israel, and the deterioration continues.
The reasons for the toad's disappearance are related to the lack of rains, following which they gradually disappear from the water bodies on which the toads' life depends. But this is not enough: while the large puddles are drying up, and the streams are running out, there is a parallel process of pollution that spreads over most of the water bodies in the country, making them toxic for the toads. It is interesting to note that apart from the Thais, who as far as is known also eat toads, the natural enemies of the toad are few, and amount to two not very common water snakes. In the desert, it is also preyed upon by the snake snake and the desert hedgehog.
The toad lives in all parts of the country, especially in those with abundant water: the coastal plain, Judea and Samaria, Galilee, Golan and Hermon. It is also found in the hotter areas, the Judean desert and the southern steppe, with a distribution limited to sites with available water. The expansion of the distribution towards the desert regions occurred in the 50s, apparently as a result of the expansion of settlement and the increase in human activity. The toad, in general, likes human company, and is often found near agricultural settlement areas, which create a humid environment for it due to the irrigated fields.
chemical warfare
The life expectancy of the toad is 36 years on average. In its collection of defensive measures there are several sympathetic ways of two-stage chemical warfare such as the secretion of a toxic and smelly milky fluid from the passage of special glands located on the nape of the neck and on the skin of the back and limbs, and
Sudden urination for dessert. The toad's means of defense against dryness is digging in the ground.
The culinary menu of the cricket includes small flying insects, mosquitoes, flies and other delicacies.
warts and tadpoles
As a living being, the reproduction cycle of toads includes two incarnations. The first applies only in water, and the second is also possible on land, for short periods of time. Their courtship and breeding season occurs mainly in winter. During this, the male, which is noticeably smaller than the female, develops a large, dark wart on the toe and toe of the front legs. The sexual wart is nothing more than a rough attachment pad, with which the male clings to the smooth body of the female during fertilization, which takes place in the water.
To meet the females, the males go down to the puddles of water and make courtship calls. The females are attracted to the enticing croaks of the males, and when they are around the males ride them.
After mating, the female lays up to 7,000 eggs, which are packed in transparent cylindrical laces, made of slippery mucus and attached to rocks and water plants. The mucus protects the eggs from predators. About two months later, the tadpoles hatch from the eggs. They resemble sperm cells, and are black in color. Gradually they develop limbs, their tail disappears and their color turns greenish gray. In the first weeks of their lives as tiny and adult toads, they behave as daytime activity.
(* The article was made possible with the help of the "Red Book of Vertebrates in Israel". Editors: Amit Dolev and Dr. Avi Parbolotsky (chapter editor: Sharig Gafni). The book will be published soon by the Nature and Parks Authority and the Society for the Protection of Nature.)
