Sometimes hanging around in the classroom at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center, visitors will look at the live animal exhibits and ask questions. One of the more frequent questions is about the collection of California toads we have on display. I’m always amazed when people ask me if they are toads or frogs. So I decided to write this article on the subject.

I used to stress to people that frogs and toads are completely different – and in some respects they are – but frogs and toads are amphibians in the order Anura (meaning “without tail”) and refer to frogs. So their differences are not all that great.

A “warty” type of frog is called a “toad.” However, differences between the two are mostly based on naming conventions that concentrate on the warts rather than evolutionary history. Some toads are more closely related to frogs than others.

Toads are characterized by having short, pudgy legs and dry skin, and they have parotoid glands on the back of their heads that, when they’re stressed, can secrete a neurotoxin called bufotoxin to deter predators.

Frogs are considered slimy, smaller, and have smoother skin. Frogs have teeth, while toads do not. They can also have glands that secrete fluids for protection against predators. Frogs can leap great distances, whereas toads mostly hop.

Remember: Arroyo toads (shown) are endangered, and if you see one, please leave it alone so it can thrive in its environment.

The most poisonous frog in the world comes from the Pacific Coast of Colombia and is called the Golden poison frog (Phyllobates terribilis). It is actually considered the most poisonous animal in the world. Other names for this frog are poison dart frog and golden poison arrow frog. But they live in South America, so it appears there is no need to check under your bed.

There’s an old wives’ tale that claims holding or touching a toad will give you warts. This is not true by any sense of the word. The bumps and excretion of fluid from the toad can be irritants but will not cause warts.

Of course, if you are allergic to the toxin, you might have a reaction of some kind, but warts will not be one of them.

I recommend that when you’re done playing with toads (like I do), you wash your hands thoroughly and don’t stick your fingers in your mouth. Yuck.

Frogs prefer to spend more time in the water and lay their eggs in streams, ponds and puddles as available. The sexes in frogs are separate and have organized male and female reproductive systems. Toads prefer dry land and usually lay their eggs in slow-moving water, such as small streams.

Male toads possess what is called a bidder’s organ. Under the right conditions, this organ becomes an active ovary, effectively transforming the male into a female. How convenient in a pinch.

My experience is that when I was in college, I collected toads just for fun. I had a major fixation on them just because I thought they were cute and adorable even though they looked lumpy. I still love how they stand pigeon-toed.

Western toad

I became friends with a guy who owned a reptile store in East Oakland where I bought crickets to feed my toads. He would often get shipments – this was many years ago when it was legal – of various pythons, anacondas and constrictors. Sometimes he’d call and tell me he’d been shipped some toads from South America, and for one reason or another, they were illegal in the United States, and he was unable to sell them or send them back. So he would ask if I wanted them.

Being an art student and majoring in illustration – and the fact that I had this fixation on toads – I said, “Of course I’ll take them.” I must have had five or eight different species at the time.

Not being very interesting as a pet, these guys gave me the pleasure of drawing them and providing results artistically. But when it came to feed them, it was a different story.

Imagine going to this guy’s store and buying 200 to 300 crickets, only to get home and drop the bag in your living room. My cat was happy.

So I don’t really recommend having them as pets. But they are really cool little creatures of nature.

Remember: Arroyo toads are endangered, and if you see one, please leave it alone so it can thrive in its environment.

Mari Carbajal is a docent-naturalist at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center.