Celsius. During these months, the male emits a high clear trill by distending a vocal sac on its throat, in hopes of attracting a mate ten minutes before sunset while in their burrows. After this ten minute period a male will move into a breeding area during the times of sunset to midnight where there he will then call out out another high pitched call. This call is similar to a sound of a small bell. A female will choose a male based on certain characteristics of his call. After the female toads arrive, hours after sunset, they will select their mate and will remain claps to their partner for the next 6 hours. The female will proceed to lay several thousand eggs in long single-egg strands that are fertilized externally by the male as they are laid. Each individual egg has less than one percent chance of survival. The eggs hatch within seven days and tadpoles take between 15 and 100 days to turn into little toads. The toadlets then leave the breeding pond and begin to forage for prey such as ants, beetles and moths. After 1 year, males reach sexual maturity, however it can take 1–2 years for females. Males generally breed for two seasons. Geographic range It has been determined that the toad reside in a niche area of southeastern Texas. The Houston toad has never been found north of Burleson County, south of Fort Bend County, east of Liberty County, or west of Bastrop County since its discovery in 1953. The Houston Toad today lives exclusively in pine and oak woodlands and savanna with forbs and bunchgrasses present in open areas. The Houston toad can be found in a large variety of counties such as sections of Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado, Lee, Leon, Lavaca, Milam and Robertson. All of these counties are included in the Houston toad Safe Harbor Agreement. Habitat General habitat The Houston toad is generally found in areas with loose, sandy soils greater than in depth and large rolling uplands. Slow-moving or still bodies of water that last at least 30 days are needed for breeding and tadpole development. The toad's original range covered 12 counties in Texas; currently, it is often reported to occur in nine counties. However, choruses have only been actually reported in three counties since 2000, representing a seventy-five percent overall reduction in twenty years. Vegetation of its