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Couch's spadefoot

Scaphiopus couchii · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Couch's spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii): Stout toad-like amphibian, 5.6-8.8 cm; bright green-yellow to brown-yellow with dark green, brown or black mottling (more extensive in females), white belly. Vertically elliptical pupil in bright light and a single hard, black, sickle-shaped spade on each hind foot. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Scaphiopus couchii
Family
Scaphiopodidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) into northern Mexico and Baja California; not found in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Stout toad-like amphibian, 5.6-8.8 cm; bright green-yellow to brown-yellow with dark green, brown or black mottling (more extensive in females), white belly. [1][2]

Vertically elliptical pupil in bright light and a single hard, black, sickle-shaped spade on each hind foot. [1][2]

Parotoid glands present but indistinct; skin with many small warts. [1][2]

Breeding male has dark patches on the inner three digits and a large, rounded vocal sac; call is a harsh lamb- or goat-like bleat lasting 0.5-1 s. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Arid and semi-arid shrublands, shortgrass plains, mesquite savanna, creosote-bush desert, thornforest and cultivated areas; eggs are attached to vegetation in shallow rain pools. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Nocturnal; spends most of its time underground in burrows dug backwards with the hind spades, and surfaces after heavy rains. [1][2]

Breeds explosively after heavy spring or summer rains, often in a single night, in temporary pools; eggs hatch within about 36 hours and metamorphosis takes about 1-2 weeks if pools persist. [1][2]

Eats mostly insects and other small terrestrial arthropods; can go about ten months without feeding while dormant. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) into northern Mexico and Baja California; not found in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology