The most common toad that exists in the United States, more specifically Minnesota, is the American toad. These toads can be found both in and around wetlands or in gardens and cities, these are the types you’ll likely see.
People have mixed feelings when it comes to toads, some love them and others do not want them around. If there are high numbers of raccoons and toads in your area, you may be asking, do raccoons eat toads? This article looks into it
Raccoons do eat toads, many animals avoid eating toads because of the toxic skin on their backs and the tops of their heads but raccoons usually simply flip the toad over and eat the underside of the animal.
Table of Contents
Do raccoons eat toads?
Raccoons have a taste for almost any plant and animal there is, these animals will even eat out of your garbage cans if they need to.
Raccoons are omnivores, they are also opportunistic feeders. Raccoons will eat meat, vegetation, fish, water hyacinth, water lilies, and even toads if they can
Not only can raccoons eat toads, they love eating toads.
How raccoons catch toads:
Eating toads is very natural for raccoons. Raccoons love water, they choose homes near water in order to have easy access to water. Ponds in your garden will attract raccoons onto your property, these animals will eat toads while they’re there
Raccoons have very nimble fingers, when a raccoon finds a toad, it will simply pluck the animal from its hiding place, either from under some leaves, rocks, or under a log, and eat it
Why toad defences don’t work on raccoons:
Toad toxins:
The toads parotid glands, found on the animal’s back and on the top of its head, secrete a toxic substance called bufotoxin. This can cause death in some animals.
Because toads secrete this toxin on their head and back, raccoons opt to eat the toads underside rather than eating the whole toad. Raccoons have learned to simply flip the toad over to get to the underside.
This toxic substance keeps other animals from eating this amphibian
Toads playing dead:
Because toads are quite passive animals and because they don’t fight, they use defense mechanisms to keep them safe from predators in the wild. If they notice a predator in the area, they will play dead.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work with raccoons as raccoons happily eat dead animals
Toads puffing up:
These amphibia may also puff their bodies up in order to keep predators like raccoons away. This doesn’t work against raccoons because raccoons are much larger than toads even when the toad is puffed up
Colorful toads:
Another defense that these animals have against being eaten is their color, because these animals are brown or green in color, finding them can be difficult as they blend into their surroundings quite easily.
Toads can also be brightly colored, raccoons keep away from toads that are brightly colored. These brightly colored toads are poisonous to raccoons and other toad predators
Raccoons will avoid these toads
What animals eat toads?
Not many animals eat toads, this is because they secrete bufotoxin. Yet, there are a couple of animals that will eat toads regardless of their skin and the bufotoxin that it secretes:
Mammals: If a mammal can catch a toad it will kill it and eat it. Mammals that kill and can eat toads include otters
Reptiles: Reptiles eat toads too. Some reptiles will even share a pond with toads, this makes it easy for them to find and eat toads. Snakes, in particular, will eat toads, these animals have developed to be immune to the poison that toads secrete
Fish: Both fish and toads will share a pond, and eat each other too. Eels and other fish will eat toads.
Birds: A variety of birds eat toads, toads are easy to spot from up in the sky. Birds of prey like owls and crows, usually eat toads.
Animals that eat toad eggs and tadpoles include diving beetles, crayfish, dragonfly larvae, mosquitoes, freshwater crayfish, and a variety of bugs
What is a raccoons favorite thing to eat?
Raccoons enjoy eating a variety of pond creatures, because raccoons enjoy living near water bodies, it is understandable that the animals will enjoy eating creatures that live in ponds.
They enjoy eating fish, snails, clams, frogs, and crayfish
Conclusion
In conclusion, yes raccoons do eat toads. Raccoons love eating pond wildlife, this includes toads.
Raccoons avoid the toad’s poisonous head and neck skin by only eating the underside of the animal.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other raccoon related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Do raccoons eat ticks?, Do raccoons eat termites?, Do raccoons eat yellow jackets?
