NM Spadefoot

NM Spadefoot baby. After driving around for hours after a storm, all sheep noises (the sound they make) always led my son and I to private property. We went home feeling totally frustrated and disappointed, no sheep noises in our yard. After I got all my gear put up, Egan comes running into the house screaming that he found one in our yard and told me to grab my camera. Only one spadefoot but at least we found one.

Lovely capture of this cute little toad
Brian V.

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A Spadefoot?! . That's awesome!

I love these guys. . Around here we have .... well, I think they're called the Great Plains Spadefoot. . I know the latin name but not the regular name. . It's Spea intermontana

I go out looking for them in June. Gotta go out late at night - at least a full hour after sunset, which in June means after 10:30pm.

Supposedly, they spend 90% of their life in the ground, and are only active at night for a month or two in the early summer. . After that they burrow back into the ground and stay there until the next year. . At least that's what I have been led to understand. . And I guess it must be true, because I only see them in June and July, never any other time.

I wonder if your species, the New Mexico Spadefoot, has the same lifecycle, or if it is different.

I am so glad you shared this. . It is inspiring! . And congratulations to your son for finding him!


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Lovely capture.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18770574
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A Spadefoot?! . That's awesome!

I love these guys. . Around here we have .... well, I think they're called the Great Plains Spadefoot. . I know the latin name but not the regular name. . It's Spea intermontana

I go out looking for them in June. Gotta go out late at night - at least a full hour after sunset, which in June means after 10:30pm.

Supposedly, they spend 90% of their life in the ground, and are only active at night for a month or two in the early summer. . After that they burrow back into the ground and stay there until the next year. . At least that's what I have been led to understand. . And I guess it must be true, because I only see them in June and July, never any other time.

I wonder if your species, the New Mexico Spadefoot, has the same lifecycle, or if it is different.

I am so glad you shared this. . It is inspiring! . And congratulations to your son for finding him!


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The only time we ever hear or see them is after our heavy rains. That is when they always come out. Any other time they are underground.

I remember when we first moved out into the desert and had our first storm, afterwards we heard sheep. It was perplexing because none of our neighbors had sheep. The next time it rained the same thing happened. When it happened a third time I had the boys out on their rain boots and we went investigating. Imagine our shock when the sheep we were looking for were coming from the drainage ditch that ran along our road. That's when we learned about the spadefoot. We have two species out here that I know of which are the Couch's spadefoot and NM spadefoot. I absolutely love these critters and it is now my favorite part or our rainy season.

Whew, finally got the account thing corrected so now I am back under my old username.

nmbugs wrote in post #18770658
The only time we ever hear or see them is after our heavy rains. That is when they always come out. Any other time they are underground.

We have two species out here that I know of which are the Couch's spadefoot and NM spadefoot. I absolutely love these critters and it is now my favorite part or our rainy season.

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That's good info - thank you.

When is your rainy season, when Spadefoots can be found?

The next time I travel to your part of the country, I would be very interested in looking for Spadefoots, but don't want to waste my time looking if it isn't the right time of year for them to come out.


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“When is your rainy season, when Spadefoots can be found?”

Tom, the so called monsoon season is normally mid-ish July ~> late August. It’s pretty hit and miss though.

Like was mentioned, it takes a good down pour to get them going. I was born on the east side of NM 70+ years ago and the water table was Much different than now. (Spell that we had lots of pot holes and ponds) Most of the places that the toads call from are anything but recognizable as a place that has toads buried.

Many old deserted homesteads or even low areas farmed fields will absolutely explode in songs after a heavy rain.