The skin of a toad is often thick, dry, and warty, enabling it to tolerate dry environments. Toad skin glands have secretions that make them unappetizing to most predators. Toads do not cause warts, but if you handle a toad, their skin secretions can be irritating if you rub your eyes.
Toads have short, stout bodies and stubby legs that cause them to hop instead of leap like frogs.
Adult toads typically breed in shallow water, which warms quickly, hastening tadpole development. Female toads lay thousands of eggs in long strings attached to vegetation. Tadpoles transform more quickly and at a smaller size than frogs.
Toads are capable of burrowing into the ground to escape the heat of summer. During the winter they escape freezing conditions by burrowing below the frost line.