One more species spotlight for now: Hurter’s Spadefoot Toad!
Scaphiopus hurterii is a native to the south-central US, from northern Arkansas and Oklahoma down in a wide band to south Texas and possibly northern Mexico (I’ve only had the chance to encounter one in central Oklahoma). Formerly considered a subspecies of eastern spadefoot and sharing the relatively simple patterning of that species, Hurter’s is a nearly uniform dirt yellowish to olive green animal, with lighter sides below a darker dorsal cape and sometimes darker blotches on the limbs and toes…and of course the characteristic big dark horizontal pupils in their eyes that give them an otherworldly expression.
These frogs are found in a wide range of usually lowland habitats, open forests to prairies and thornscrub where heavy spring and summer rains bring them out en masse for explosive breeding events in the ephemeral pools that form afterward. Like other spadefoots they develop rapidly from tadpole to froglet, dispersing and digging into the dirt afterward using the hardened keratin “spades” on their feet to wait until the next rain appears and allows them to hunt (anything small enough to fit in their mouth is considered food).
Though widespread, this species is not as widespread as the Couch’s or Eastern, and much of their habitat is the epicenter of agricultural development on the Plains. As such their populations are threatened directly by both habitat loss and runoff pollution.

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