![]() They back in snugly as their hind legs do the digging. Toads enter their burrows at the same time they dig them. Over 600 Canadian toads were found burrowed together in a sandy hillside in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. Toads are thought to be solitary hibernators, however, when suitable habitat is scarce, communal overwintering has been documented. Some toads overwinter in old tree stumps, and high concentrations of toads are often found under rocks and logs in wet areas around springs. In urban areas, toads will often seek out foundations where cracks exist and burrow their way down into those crevices. Ant mounds are also common overwintering sites. They will use existing mammal burrows if available. Toads usually burrow one to two feet into the ground to get below the frost line, although younger toads have been observed burrowing less deeply. They also overwinter in a variety of sites. They may be loyal, but they don’t appear to be very picky: they live in gardens, forests, fields, and urban places. Research suggests that toads may return to the same overwintering sites year after year. In the Northeast, toads are driven into their burrows sometime between September and October and re-emerge from April to May. The American toad, Anaxyrus americanus (formerly Bufo americanus) typically hibernates underground, below the frost line. The guests and I started pondering all sorts of questions about toads and their habits, but the biggest question of all was: where do toads go in the winter? It continued to emerge, fully exposing its body. I reached my hand out and gently touched the rough, bumpy, and very well camouflaged back of an American toad. Eventually something reached the surface. Slowly the ground moved a little to the left, then to the right, then there was a pause, then left again, right again. Together we all crouched to watch the methodical shaking of the earth below us. ![]() ![]() Realizing that something noteworthy was about to happen, I ran inside to alert our guests. ![]() One warm fall day, while standing outside the lodge, I noticed movement inside one of the window wells around the basement. I manage a lodge in the Groton forest on behalf of Vermont State Parks. ![]()
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