Denizens of the Mojave desert, Couch's spadefoot toads (Scaphiopus couchi) spend most of their lives in torpid bliss beneath the ground. When the monsoon season sends raindrops smacking the desert hardpan, the sound awakens these little anurans who rise above the ground to feed and breed, attaching their eggs to plant stems in temporary pools, where they can hatch and grow into froglets in three weeks if conditions are right.