Rare five-legged toad found in Devon garden pond

A Devon couple have said they were shocked and pleasantly surprised after finding a toad with five legs.

Amanda and David Weller discovered the extra-limbed creature while wandering around the garden pond at their Hammas Farm holiday let business near Torrington.

Ms Weller said it was “remarkable” to see the toad, which she described as being very energetic before it eventually hopped away.

Herpetologist Andrew Gray said it was a rare find and the deformity could have been caused by exposure to pesticides, or as a reaction to damage to its leg leading to an extra limb being grown.

Ms Weller said she could not believe what she was seeing when she first saw the toad.

“I was looking at it and said to my husband, ‘it’s got an extra leg’.

“To see something like that was remarkable.

“We have seen plenty of normal toads in the garden before, but never anything like this toad before.”

Mr Gray, an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, said amphibians, including toads, frogs and newts were “very susceptible” to pesticides, which get into their environment and this can cause the deformity.

He added some amphibians could also regenerate limbs if they sustained damage when they were young, or even in the tadpole stage of life.

“The leg bud looks like it has been damaged, so what I think has happened here is its body has thought it’s lost a leg, so it’s generated a new one from the actual limb bud,” Mr Gray said after seeing a photograph of the toad.

“Looking at the other leg, it looks like its damaged to a degree and lost a few of its digits.”