Kevin E. Bonine

    The couch's spadefoot has a yellow-green coloration with dark mottling or marbling of black, green, or dark brown and a mostly white belly.  The spade is elongate and often sickle shaped.  The females tend to have much more of a yellow pattern.  They range in size from 5.7 - 7.3 cm (2.25 - 2.88 in).  The couch's spadefoot habitat includes shortgrass plains, mesquite savannahs, and other arid or semiarid regions.  They burrow into the ground or use other animals' burrows and emerge after heavy rains at night.  The females lay eggs on plant stems in temporary pools during heavy rains from May through September.  Eggs can hatch in 36 hours and tadpoles can transform in 2 - 6 weeks.

Call:  Sounds like a sheep bleating, each bleat lasting 0.5 - 1.25 seconds.   Call can often seem to come from everywhere because of its ventriloquial quality.   Often heard in noisy choruses over long distances.  Loud, calls primarily at night.

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