The mountain toad (Bombina variegata) is one of the two representatives of the genus toads (Bombina) that live in Slovenia; worldwide, seven species of this genus have been discovered in total. The mountain toad is a small animal that only rarely grows to more than 5 cm. Its skin is densely covered with warts that end in a small thorn, so the surface of its body feels rough to the touch. The dorsum of the body is a uniform gray, brown, or dirty olive color. If we surprise the toad out of water and it gets frightened, it instantly turns onto its back and shows its warning-colored ventral side. That side is black-and-yellow striped and warns intruders of the toad's toxicity and tells predators that it is not tasty; for humans, however, its poison is not dangerous! Like other toads, the mountain toad also does not have developed parotoid glands at the back of the head, and it is also characterized by a heart-shaped pupil.
The mountain toad is distributed across all of Slovenia, the lowland toad (Bombina bombina) lives only in the sub-Pannonian part of Slovenia and in this area there is also hybridization between the two species.
The mountain toad spends most of the year in small, usually temporary, bodies of water. Primarily, the habitat of the mountain toad consisted of shallow pools of clear streams that remained after the rest of the channel dried up. Today adults are most often found in puddles on cart tracks, in ditches and in ponds, where there are no fish, as the toad does not like their company.
This, frog-like amphibian in summer is often heard as it conquers females from its pool with a ringing uuu-uuu. The breeding period lasts from April to August. When the male finds a suitable female, he climbs onto her back, grips her and fertilizes the eggs as the female lays them on aquatic vegetation or the bottom of the pond. The female lays eggs in small clusters, in which there are about 15 eggs connected to each other by a string.
The larvae, tadpoles, feed on algae and bacteria that they scrape off the substrate; adult toads, during the day, collect small invertebrates from the water surface, as they cannot extend their tongue out of their mouth to catch flying insects. In autumn the toad goes ashore, to the nearby woodland or to a marshy meadow, where under stones or fallen branches, and also among the roots of shrubs and trees, it overwinters.
The mountain toad is protected in Slovenia and on the Red List of endangered amphibians it is classified as a vulnerable (V) species! The European Union has also defined the mountain toad as one of the qualifying species for the establishment of Natura 2000 protected areas, because the presence of the toad in a given area indicates well-preserved nature. By protecting these areas we ensure a suitable habitat not only for the toad, but also for countless other beings and thus preserve the biodiversity of this area for future generations.
