American Bullfrog

The American Bullfrog is invasive to Idaho. They are green and brown, which allows them to camouflage to hide from predators. The males have yellow throats, while the females have white throats. The males make a call that sounds like “jug-o-rum” during spring and summer to establish territory and attract mates. Their diet consists of crayfish, dragonfly naiads, water beetles, snails, and small fish as adults, and plant matter and aquatic macroinvertebrates as tadpoles. Their life cycle starts with 12,000-20,000 eggs laid in a jelly-like mass. They then spend two winters as tadpoles and live for about eight years.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/american-bullfrogs-fast-facts.htm

Boreal Chorus Frog

The Boreal Chorus Frog is native to Idaho and throughout North America. This frog is brown or green with three dorsal stripes and a dark band across the snout, eye, and down through the side. Their diet primarily consists of small invertebrates and vertebrates, aquatic plants, and algae. They can be found in permanent water bodies from April to September. They are one of the first amphibians to emerge, often when there is still snow or ice. The males give a “reeeek” call to attract females and ward off other males. A female lays between 500-1500 eggs. After two to three weeks, the eggs will hatch into tadpoles and then undergo metamorphosis after six to eight weeks to become froglets. They will live around two to three years.

https://animalia.bio/boreal-chorus-frog

https://amphibianx.com/boreal-chorus-frog/

Columbia Spotted Frog

The Columbia Spotted Frog is native to Idaho and found throughout the Northwestern United States up to Alaska. They are a candidate species for the Endangered Species Act. This frog is usually light tan to dark brown or olive green with black spots. Their diet primarily consists of insects, as well as arthropods, algae, and plants. They live in ponds, slow-moving streams, and lakes near riparian vegetation like cattails and reed canary grasses. The male waits in shallow water near vegetation as a calling spot and where the eggs will be laid. He then uses a call of clicks and long, glottal sounds to attract a female. He will often mate with multiple females in the same spot, forming a communal pool of eggs. Each female will lay between 150-500 eggs in the calling spot. Altogether, amounting to thousands of eggs in one mass. Their development varies depending on the area and elevation. Males will live for two to four years and females four to six.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Rana_luteiventris/

Northern Leopard Frog

The Northern Leopard Frog is native to Idaho and found throughout most of the United States and Canada. However, their population has rapidly declined since the 1970s. They are currently being considered for the endangered or threatened species list. The Northern Leopard Frog is green or brown with large, oval dark spots surrounded by a lightly colored border. They have a white stripe on the dorsolateral folds and upper jaw. Adults and juveniles eat small invertebrates, spiders, mollusks, and crustaceans. Tadpoles eat algae, plant tissue, and organic debris. During the winter, they will hibernate underwater in well-oxygenated water where it will not freeze at the bottom. In the spring and summer, they will be near ponds mating. The male will call a female to shallow water exposed to sunlight with vegetation. Their call sounds like a snore. The female will swim in the water while the male hangs onto her back. After two to three days, the female will lay between a few hundred to several thousand eggs in an egg mass. The male then ejaculates and fertilizes the eggs. Tadpoles hatch after a week and metamorphose into froglets after three months. They will live between five to eight years.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/northern-leopard-frog.htm

https://www.fws.gov/species/northern-leopard-frog-rana-pipiens

Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog

The Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog is native to Idaho and parts of the United States and Canada. This frog has bumpy skin with either brown, reddish brown, or olive-gray coloring with yellow and gray mottling dorsally and a black stripe across the eyes. They lack tympani (the outer eardrums) and dorsolateral folds, and they have a vertical pupil for seeing better at night. The “tail” that they are named after is only found in males and is not a real tail. It is an extension of the cloaca used for mating. Adults forage at night and eat aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates. Larvae feed mostly on diatoms, as well as algae and small aquatic insects. The Rocky Mountain Tailed Frogs live in fast, permanent streams with clear, cold water, cobble or boulder substrates, and little silt in old-growth coniferous forests. This species does not have a mating call. The female will be inseminated internally in the water. The female will then store the sperm over the winter and lay the 400-1,300 eggs in clutches of 40-85 eggs the next summer in slow-moving water under large rocks. The eggs hatch after four to six weeks and the larvae metamorphose between three to five years later. They will reach maturity at seven to eight years old and can live up to 14 years.

https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AAABA01020

https://www.canadianherpetology.ca/species/species_page.html?cname=Rocky%20Mountain%20Tailed%20Frog

Pacific Tree Frog

The Pacific Tree Frog is native to Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and California. They are usually tan, but can be green, brown, reddish, or gray, with a light creamy underside. They have a dark stripe through both eyes.  A dark triangle is usually between the head and eyes. Pacific tree frogs have large toe pads and are skilled climbers. Tadpoles 

The Pacific Tree Frog is native to Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and California. They are usually tan, but can be green, brown, reddish, or gray, with a light creamy underside. They have a dark stripe through both eyes.  A dark triangle is usually between the head and eyes. Pacific tree frogs have large toe pads and are skilled climbers. Tadpoles feed on detritus, algae, pollen, and diatoms. Adults and juveniles mainly feed insects but also eat a variety of arthropods. They are found in forest habitats in the off-season and near slow-moving water during the breeding season. Adults are freeze-tolerant and overwinter underground, underneath thick vegetation, or in the rock crevices. The Sierran Treefrog male has a call that sounds like “ribbet-ribbet” or “krreck” and can be heard 400 meters away. They will breed in the water in April, and the female will lay 500 to 750 eggs in clutches of 18-119 eggs attached to vegetation. The tadpoles hatch after two to three weeks and metamorphose in September. They will live for two to three years.

https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/291563

https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AAABC05170

Great Basin Spadefoot Toad

The Great Basin Spadefoot Toad is native to Idaho and is found in the sagebrush steppe and desert shrublands. This toad is small and grey with black spots, has an hourglass shape on its back, and has vertical pupils. There is a spade on each hind foot, which gives it its name. They use their spades to bury themselves in soft soil as protection from the desert heat. They can survive for up to two years underground during droughts. The Great Basin spadefoot toads forage at night mainly on macroinvertebrates. They need water to reproduce but will use temporary water sources if needed. The males use a call described as “duck-like snoring” to attract females. Females lay 300-1000 eggs. The eggs will hatch after two to four days into tadpoles and transform into adults under two weeks. They live between 11-13 years.

https://www.deschuteslandtrust.org/news/blog/2017-blog-posts/great_basin_spadefoot

Woodhouse’s Toad

The Woodhouse’s Toad is native to Idaho and throughout the United States and Mexico. This toad has bumpy skin and is grayish-brown speckled with dark spots. They are nocturnal and will sit underneath light fixtures to feed on the insects attracted to the light. They are found in lowland riparian corridors and woodlands by streams or rivers. Breeding takes place in still water. The male will make a call resembling a sheep's bleat to attract a female. The female will lay up to 25,000 eggs in long strands in the water. The tadpoles will metamorphose after five to eight weeks. Woodhouse’s toad can live between five to ten years.

https://animalia.bio/woodhouses-toad

Western Toad

Western Toads are a medium-sized to large toad with a blunt head, stout body, broad waist, short legs, and “warty” skin. Adults range in size from 2 to 5 inches in length. Females attain larger sizes than males. Prominent oval glands (parotoid glands) are present on the head behind the eyes. The dorsal (topside) of the body may be brown, green, olive, gray, or reddish-brown. The warts are usually surrounded by dark blotches and may be reddish. A distinct, thin, light stripe runs along the middle of the back from top of the head to the rear end. The underside is light with irregularly distributed dark markings. The pupil of the eye is horizontal oval.  During the breeding season, males develop a smoother skin than females. These traits are not present in newly metamorphosed toads and may not be prominent in juvenile toads. Newly metamorphosed toads emerge from the water with remnants of the tail and dark skin. Within days they develop the appearance of miniature adults except the parotoid glands are not as obvious and the dorsal stripe may be subtle or absent. Presence of parotoid glands distinguishes True Toads (Bufonidae) from all other frogs. In comparison with western toads, Woodhouse’s toads (Bufo woodhousii) have elongate parotoid glands that are distinctly longer than the eye and have “L”-shaped cranial crests located between and posterior to the eyes. They spend most of their time on land, but lay their eggs near water. They are up to 5 inches long with gray, green or brownish colored skin. They eat insects, spiders, and earthworms. 

https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/anaxyrus-boreas#desc-range

Long-toed Salamander

The Long-toed Salamander is native to Idaho and the second most widely distributed salamander in North America. They secrete a sticky toxin from pores in their skin as a defense against predators. This salamander is dark grey or black with a yellow or olive-green dorsal stripe, sometimes appearing as numerous spots. Adult and juvenile salamanders will eat terrestrial invertebrates, such as insects, spiders, and worms. The larvae prey on aquatic invertebrates, such as aquatic insects, tadpoles, or other salamander larvae. The Long-toed salamander is incredibly ecologically diverse. This species occupies habitats ranging from sagebrush or cheatgrass plains, to temperate or coniferous rainforests, or montane riparian areas. During the breeding season, they live in slow-moving streams, ponds, and lakes. They will hibernate during the winter and survive on energy stored in their tail and skin. The Long-toed salamanders have a courtship dance for mating. Each female will lay 30 eggs in small clumps or 400 single eggs in shallow water surrounded by vegetation. The eggs hatch after two to five weeks. They will reach sexual maturity in two to three years and can live up to 10 years.

https://animalia.bio/long-toed-salamander

https://www.canadianherpetology.ca/species/species_page.html?cname=Western%20Long-toed%20Salamander

Western Tiger Salamander

The Western Tiger Salamander is native to Idaho and found throughout North America. The larvae are usually olive green or brown with a silvery white underside. The adults are dark with mottling of tan, yellow, or green. Larvae and adults feed on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates in the water and land, sometimes even on small mammals. Adults can be found anywhere there is terrestrial substrate suitable for burrowing and a body of water nearby suitable for breeding. They usually remain underground in burrows. Breeding begins right after the snow melts. Females will lay eggs singly or in small linear clusters with five to 120 eggs attached to submerged objects in shallow water. The eggs hatch after 15 days. Larvae can metamorphose at the end of the first summer or their second or third summer in cold waters. In rare cases, larvae may become sexually mature and reproduce without transforming into the adult stage. They will live between 12-15 years.

https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AAAAA01142