Posted by Suzanne Ledo on July 14, 2008

Q: I live in Arizona, Phoenix area. We had some intense monsoon storms, one a couple of days ago and one today. Today we had a LOT of rain. After the rain stopped at about 5:30 pm, I went down to the end of the street where there is a large drainage sump that is dry except when we get lots of rain. Of course, today it was full. I heard a strange, loud sound - first I thought it was a duck, then I thought it sounded like a cat. But there were no ducks or any birds, and the sound was coming from the middle of the pond, about 1/4 of an acre. Then I heard another one from the other side. I saw something swimming in the middle of the pond. I zoomed in with my camera, and though the picture is blurry it does look like big frog eyes. Until a few days ago, we were as dry as a bone - no rain for months. There are big drainage pipes coming in to the sump from all sides. I wonder if they live in there during dry season? Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what kind of frog this could be. I know we have toads here but have never seen any frogs.

State: Arizona

Habitat: pond/lake

A: Well, I can't be sure but I do have a suggestion. I'm wondering if your animal is a Couch's Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchi)? This animal can be quite noisy and sounds to me a bit like a cat or maybe even a duck as you noted. The Couch's Spadefoot is nocturnal although with the deluge of rain after a long dry spell, it may have was eager to begin calling. Check out this website and be sure to listen to the sound of its call that they've included. Check out: www.enature.com

Hope this answers your question. The site I gave you has all the Arizona frogs and toads listed too so this would be a good place to start. Best of luck.

John Wiessinger ( July 14, 2008)