About Mister Toad
mister-toad.com is the personal website and blog of Mike Benard, a biologist who studies the ecology, evolution and conservation of amphibians and other organisms. Mike can be contacted at: mfbenard -at- gmail . com.Copyright Information
Unless otherwise noted, all text and images are © Mike Benard. If you would like to use any of the material in this blog, please send me an email.Mister-toad.com
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Tag Archives: California
Pacific Sand Crab digging into sand
The Pacific Sand Crab (Emerita analoga) is one of the delightful creatures you can find in the surf of beaches along the Pacific Coast of North and South America. These small (up to 1.5 inches / 3.8 cm) crustaceans are … Continue reading
Posted in Natural History, Video
Tagged California, Invertebrate, Pacific SandCrab
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Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo
These two male Northern Elephant Seals fought with one another on the beach at Año Nuevo on Christmas Eve 2017. Eventually one male backed off and moved away into the ocean. A male Elephant Seal at Año Nuevo in December … Continue reading
Posted in Natural History, Photography, Video
Tagged California, Elephant Seal, mammal, marine
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Sea Otters in Monterey Bay: Surfing at Sunrise
In the last blog post, I mentioned watching sea otters catching and eating their prey at dawn. On one morning, I watch some surfers sharing the waves with the sea otters. The otters were already in the water when the … Continue reading
Posted in Citizen Science, Natural History, Photography
Tagged California, mammal, sea otter
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Sea Otters in Monterey Bay: Seafood Breakfast at Dawn
Over several early mornings from late December 2017 and early January 2018, I watched sea otters going about their business in Monterey Bay. One of the fascinating things to see was the Sea Otters catching and eating their prey. The … Continue reading
Posted in Citizen Science, Natural History, Photography, Video
Tagged California, mammal, marine, monterey bay, sea otter
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Variation across North America: The Racers
Last week I posted pictures showing the differences in color pattern between Ringneck Snakes from New York vs. California. There are a number of other North American reptiles and amphibians that also show wonderful variation in color pattern, shape and … Continue reading
Posted in Natural History, Photography, Uncategorized
Tagged California, Michigan, Racer, Snake, Variability
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