It was past ten when my friends at Agumbe and I decided to go for a small walk to the stream in Agumbe in search of any signs of the Malabar tree toads, one of the endangered species endemic to the Western Ghats. We have been hearing their calls for the past few days but were unable to spot them. It was raining the whole of yesterday and the climate was cloudy. Hence we hoped for the best, picked up our torches and left to the stream.
The night walk trail was lit by the moonlight and the sound of crickets slowly fading away as we got closer to the stream. The silence was soon replaced by the new call of Shirr shirr Shirr and Turak Turak slowly getting louder as we got closer. Just as we reached we were greeted by the small stream filled with Malabar Tree Toads (Pedostibes tuberculosus).In fact the calling was so loud in the stream we could hardly hear each other talking.
The Malabar Tree Toads are endemic to the Western Ghats. All Malabar tree toads come down from tree for breeding which happens after the first good shower post summer. The male frogs come down from tree tops and display their calling to attract the female. It was amazing to witness this event, every step we took we saw Amplexes. Male frogs fighting for the female was a common sight here. In quite a few cases there were almost three male frogs on top of a single female fighting for her. There were also some cases in which the female or the male tree toad died due to drowning. The tree toads were all so full of energy about the event that they sometimes jump on top of another male thinking it is a female and also in some cases the Common Indian Toad gets chased by the Malabar Tree Toad and vice versa for mating.
This is one site that anyone who loves wildlife should witness. The sound of Shirr shirr Shirr and Taruk Taruk still rings in my ears when I recall my night walk and the mating rituals of the Malabar Tree Toad.
