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Season Watch

Transforming toads: How American toads shift hues in different environments

By Charlie Mitchell,
Heidi Holtan
Published August 14, 2026 at 6:44 PM CDT
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An American toad sits on a curb. It is rotund and grumpy-looking.
Contributed
/
USFWS Midwest Region
An American toad sits on a curb. It is rotund and grumpy-looking.

Co-hosts Jennifer Barr and Charlie Mitchell discuss toads, marvel at kestrels, and ponder the changing seasons.

Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!

Gray treefrogs are well known to change their colors from grey to green, but it was a surprise to the Season Watch Pod that toads can change color too!

This week, co-hosts Jennifer Barr (KAXE Morning Show producer, beetle observer) and Charlie Mitchell (phenology coordinator, toad admirer) learn fun facts about toads, get inspired by John Latimer, and discuss rodent control methods.

We hear from Roots and Wings Forest School, wildlife biologist Pam Perry, and KAXE's own John Latimer.

Attributions

  1. American Kestrel call by Stanislas Wroza, XC1013542. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1013542.
  2. The Roots and Wings Forest School phenology talkback, Pam Perry's interview, and John Latimer's phenology report originally aired on KAXE.
  3. This episode was produced by Charlie Mitchell and Jennifer Barr.

Love the podcast? Have thoughts on pest control? Let us know! Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!

Email us at seasonwatch@kaxe.org.

Tags
Season Watch Season Watch PodcastKAXENorthern MinnesotaPhenologySummer phenology
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Charlie Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell (she/they) joined KAXE in February of 2022. Charlie creates the Season Watch Newsletter, produces the Phenology Talkbacks show, coordinates the Phenology in the Classroom program, and writes nature-related stories for KAXE's website. Essentailly, Charlie is John Latimer's faithful sidekick and makes sure all of KAXE's nature/phenology programs find a second life online and in podcast form.<br/><br/><br/>With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, or the star-nosed mole. (Fun fact: Moles store fat in their tails, so they don't outgrow their tunnels every time conditions are good.)
See stories by Charlie Mitchell
Heidi Holtan
For more than two decades, Heidi Holtan has helped shape the sound of KAXE. Since joining the station in 2002 as a volunteer music programmer, she has worn many hats including the weekly book program, Realgoodwords, hosting the Morning Show, creation and host of the weekly call-in program Between You and Me, serving as Outreach Producer. Program Director, News Director and currently Director of Content and Public Affairs.
See stories by Heidi Holtan
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