They get around mostly by walking, rather than hopping like frogs do. They will hop to escape danger. Tracks are often indistinct, unless they are found in soft mud. Usually the tips of the toes leave round dots and drag marks in the sand. The drag marks point in the direction of travel.
Western toads have dry, warty skin and a light stripe down the back.
They often travel far from sources of water, although they do require water for breeding. In the soft sand of river bars, the drag marks from the hind toes are very prominent. They breed between January and September. Long strings of eggs in a jelly-like substance are attached to vegetation in still, shallow water. The tadpoles emerge from the eggs and live in the shallows feeding on vegetation until they lose their tails and metamorphose into toads.