North Carolina goes to the frogs as flooding, breeding align

Eastern Spadefoot toad (Photo: N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission)

MANTEO, N.C. (AP) — In the wake of Hurricane Florence, the North Carolina coast has been plagued with a tide of frogs and toads, but the storm’s record-setting floods aren’t entirely to blame.

State biologist Jeff Hall tells The Charlotte Observer the coast is experiencing a convergence of two types of frog and toad population explosions. The first wave takes the form of tadpoles born during June and July’s abnormally heavy rains, while the second is a boom of “explosively breeding” toads. Those toads found an ideal habitat in tiny puddles created by Hurricane Florence.

But the flooding has also augmented the interactions between humans and amphibians, as the latter group searches for dry ground.

Hall says coastal residents are likely to find frogs and toads in odd places until floodwaters recede.