The march of the toads (Bufo bufo)

A species that is no longer so common, the common toad (Bufo bufo) always fascinated me for their migratory journeys. Their tadpoles were my first contact to the Amphibian world in my life.

 On the still cold nights of early spring, during and after heavy rains that creep into the ground, the warty bodies of dozens of toads (Bufo bufo) leave their winter shelters.
Guided by the ancestral force of reproduction, they cross humid forests, clearings and roads, where they often find death as cars pass. Once in the water, the males call, emitting high-pitched and faint croaks, but audible from a distance by the females, with their bellies loaded with eggs. Eventually they’ll join the males in a close embrace called amplexus. Males appear as strange backpacks attached to the backs of giant consorts. The number of males is often much greater than that of females, triggering battles for the breeding spot, complete with kicks and spasmodic hugs.

From the thousands of eggs laid by each female in long gelatinous cords, small and dark tadpoles are born, which gather on the rocks of the stream bed.
A long phase of about two months will see them grow, small gilled beings more similar to fish than to their final form. Equipped with tiny corneous teeth, they scrape everything organic that the stream or pond can provide, dead plants or animals it doesn’t matter. They have to grow quickly, before it’s too hot and too dry outside, too “summery”.
Even if only a part manages to complete the metamorphosis, by mid-summer the banks of the watercourses are filled with toads in miniature, ready to face terrestrial life. Now no more teeth for scraping, but mouths with a sticky tongue for preying. No longer gills but lungs. No longer side eyes like fish, but turned forward, to observe the movements of the prey in front of them. Finally, no longer a tail for swimming, but four sturdy legs for walking and jumping among leaves and grasses.
At least three years will pass before they can reproduce in turn, in the same place where they were born. At that point, for the first time, they will take the path of their parents, to march towards their future, sing nightly serenades, engage in fights, and lay necklaces of life in the silent waters.