Middle-Fork

4/29/07 Found a tiny grey/silver toad on a mini-windmill in garden today.
Have never seen a "grey" toad before. We are in West Central
Wisconsin. I see a lot of the small brown tree toads around here.
Is this a species or a mutation? Possibly an albino? Wish to heck
I would have taken a picture of it. Very pretty.

This is a western toad, Bufo boreas. I took the picture at about 5000' near Diamond Peak, in Lane County Oregon, just about a year ago. I don't know what the brown growth on the left of its head is, but it looked normal at the time.

Actually, this is one of the many variations that you can find of the Hyla [Pseudacris] regilla (Pacific Tree Frog). The black "mask," narrow snout, eardrum, legs, & patterning are good indicators. Though grey morphs like; light tan, white, & rusty red are one of the more uncommon or rarer morphs (typical morphs; greens, browns, & yellows). Pacific Tree Frogs are also able to change their melanin levels based a bit on their environment (basically they with become lighter colored if the area is tan habitat or darker if on dark fertile soil). Though changing their melanin levels might take a little while but you can observe the changes. Cool find, probably the most common & variable frog in the Pacific Northwest.