Alan meets the official state amphibian of New Mexico

I don't know what's weirder:
1. that the state of New Mexico has an official amphibian;
2. that this amphibian showed up in my corral after Monday night's storm;
3. that this amphibian makes so much noise that it is probably what Lucy, George and Alan were listening to in yesterday's post.

Allow me to introduce you to the New Mexico spadefoot toad:

This one crossed my path as I was taking puddle pictures after the rain stopped. In all my years of living here, I had never seen a frog...toad...whatever in the desert. I didn't want to sound like an idiot when I wrote this post, so I googled for the difference between a frog and a toad. One thing lead to another, and now I know all about New Mexico spadefoot toads. They spend most of their lives buried in the ground and come out after it rains to eat bugs and breed. And they make lots of noise! Just ask longtime reader Clairz; I happened upon this post of hers in my quest for information, in which she has a recording of them singing in the pecan orchard next door.

Anyway, Alan came over to see what I was doing and gave chase.

Had he known as I now do that these toads emit a peanutlike odor if handled... 

...and cause tearing and nasal discharge if in close contact with the face, he might have backed off.

Luckily for Alan, Mr. Toad had more important things to do in the nearest puddle and leapt off to find Mrs. Toad.

Mr. Toad: I told her to meet me here at 6:30. Hope she's not going to stand me up. This could be our only chance all year.

Mr. Toad was swimming around in the puddle...

...when Lucy came over to get a drink. He dove under the surface, but Lucy spotted him out of the corner of her eye.

Lucy: Nom nom nom nom nom. Tastes like chicken.

Kidding. Lucy did not eat Mr. Toad. That picture of her was begging for a caption and I couldn't resist.

When last seen, Mr. Toad was swimming off into the deep end, still searching for a mate.