This parched land is home to a variety of amphibians. But how does an animal that requires water to survive manage to live in such a dry land? They go underground! The spadefoot toad, shown to the right, is a good example. Except for a few brief days after heavy summer rain, he is in a cozy mucous cocoon several inches under the soil surface. When the summer rains come, if they come, the toads emerge for a few brief days of intense activity. If one were to take a stroll in the desert at night following a downpour, one might think it had been raining toads. They are everywhere! After the rain the toads have considerable business to conduct in a limited amount of time. They must find food. They must find pools of water. They must find a mate. After finding a mate the toads begin to deposit and fertilize the eggs in temporary ponds that form in the desert. The eggs hatch into tadpoles in a few days and the tadpoles begin to devour everything edible they can find. Sometimes they even eat their own kind. They are in a race for their lives. The tadpoles must metamorphose into toads before the heat dries up their temporary pool. As the tiny toads leave the shelter of their rapidly disappearing pool, they feed and then join their parents underground, waiting for the next heavy rain. The photo to the left is a typical summer shower over the Dona Ana Mountains.

There are several species of toad found the the area. One species of salamander, the barred tiger salamander, even makes this part of the desert his home.