The Red Spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus) is a medium sized toad covered in red spots. They can reach 1 to 3 inches in size. These toads live around streams and ponds that may dry up at different times of the year. They live in burrows, under rocks and logs in wait for spring rains, when they emerge to breed. Their eggs will hatch into aquatic tadpoles and then metamorph into young toads.
They will eat anything they can fit into their mouth, but insects are a common food. Their only defense is their paratoid glands behind their eyes that secrete a poison that deters most predators.
Image from Gary Nafis of CaliforniaHerps.
Mojave Desert Wildlife 