Hurter's Spadefoot Toad
Scaphiopus hurteri

Spadefoot toads can be found statewide, with the Hurter's being limited to the eastern 1/2 of the state.  The spadefoot toads are rather unusual looking creatures in that they look superficially like toads with weak hind legs. Unlike the true toads, Family Bufonidae, they have smooth moist skin and large eyes with vertical pupils, creating a "bug-eyed" appearance. These nocturnal animals are usually only found above ground during thunderstorms in late spring and early summer, when they can be in large numbers calling from breeding pools. When the spring and summer breeding pools begin to dry, they use their spades to dig burrows where they will enter into a period of aestivation, similar to hibernation except it is in response to drought instead of cold, and it will rest until the next rains soften the soil again.