WATCH OUT...Baby Asian common toad - Bufo melanostictus

WATCH OUT...Baby Asian common toad - Bufo melanostictus -

Also known as the Asian black-spined toad, Asian toad, black-spectacled toad, common Sunda toad, and Javanese toad.

Normally present in their hundreds - or even thousands - after the monsoon rain, I have seen these in swarms in Sha Kok Mei in previous years, covering the road. And the other day in LNEC in Saikung, where I took these pictures....these toadlets are TINY...only 1cm big perhaps, and they are all over the ground, so please be careful when you are walking.

Here a close up of one in a little pool of water on a leaf.

A very common animal in Hong Kong, often found hopping around at night, and buried under leaves during the day, and sometimes found in quite dry places.

Toads have dry, warty skin, and this one has two large parotoid glands which can secrete a toxic fluid, which deters most predators. Not all, as Cobras, and Red-neck snakes both eat these with relish (I mean, avidly, not with a side of sauce).

These animals are carnivorous, and feed by flicking out their sticky tongue.