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Rare Toad Inspires Habitat Protection Efforts

Credit Ian Ives
Feed me! ...Tadpoles

Spadefoot Toads may not look like much to the casual observer. But Ian Ives, Director of Mass Audubon’s Mid and Upper Cape Wildlife Sanctuaries, says they're impossible not to love and well worth protecting.

Ives currently leads a multi-partnered Spadefoot Toad and Vernal Pool Restoration Project on two Mass Audubon properties on Cape Cod - Long Pasteur Wildlife Sanctuary in Barnstable, and Ashumet Holly Wildlife Sanctuary in Falmouth. Partners include Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA, Conservation Inc., the Center for Stream and Wetland restoration, and numerous schools and volunteers.

Indeed, Ives says that educating young people and getting them excited about conserving rare species and habitats in their community is the most important goal of the whole project. And, he says, once you've met a Spadefoot Toad, it's impossible not to get hooked. Take a look!

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