The US National Park Service is warning people to stop licking one of the largest toads in America, due to a toxin it secretes from its glands that can create a hallucinogenic experience.
The Sonoran desert toad, which emits a quick, “weak low-pitched toot”, can make someone sick if they touch it or lick it, NPS said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Toad-licking, however, has become a way to get high, and has long been considered life-threatening. Not every toad can induce a high, and for those that can, the high they deliver varies from toad to toad.
Users often get high from either licking the back of a toad directly or by storing toxins secreted by the toad to use later.
Hallucinations and euphoria are the known effects of this activity, but it can also cause anxiety, nausea or seizures and, in some cases, death. And the park service would definitely prefer if people stopped doing it.
“As we say with most things you come across in a national park, whether it be a banana slug, unfamiliar mushroom, or a large toad with glowing eyes in the dead of night, please refrain from licking,” read a part of the post, which was accompanied by a sensor camera photo of a toad at the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, Arizona.
The toad, which is also referred to as the Colorado river toad, is about seven inches long, and its toxins are released from glands near its eyes and jaw.
“Animals that harass this species generally are intoxicated through the mouth, nose, or eyes,” according to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, with a special warning for dog owners to keep their dogs safe.
While the secretions of such toads can sometimes be used medically for the treatment of irregular heartbeats, it is done in a contained environment with strict monitoring.
The licking trend is also not good for toads themselves. While the act of being licked doesn’t directly kill them, their skin may be sold for their secretions, which makes them susceptible to being killed. The toad is considered “endangered” in California and “threatened” in New Mexico.
