Cocker Spaniel Addicted to Licking Toad
3 Comments Published by Joel October 26th, 2006 in Dogs. Share This
I listened this story yesterday and didn’t even think about linking it up here on Dethronoid, despite the fact that it: Involves a dog; Involves psychedelic toads. Clearly my already slack nature was distracted in my investigation into owning a breeding pair of bufo alvaris, or Colorado River Toads. (It looks like too much work for me.)
“Then, late one night after I’d put the dogs out, Lady wouldn’t come in,” Laura Mirsch says. “She finally staggered over to me from the cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting toad.”
It turned out the toads were toxic — and, if licked, the fluids on their skin provided a hallucinogenic effect.
The Dog Who Loved to Suck on Toads [NPR] (Thanks, Topher!)
There are some things you learn about at a young age by growing up in Florida, as I did. You learn to run in zig-zags to get away from alligators. You learn to love Cuban food, especially their delicious cake frosting. And you learn about keeping your dogs away from Bufo toads. These toads secrete a toxin that can be a hallucinogenic, but is often deadly to dogs.
http://www.pgaa.com/canine/health/bufotoad.html
Doug, the FL variety is a different species. From what I recall they are Bufo Marinus, and not the Bufo Alvaris described in the article.
Bufo toads in FL are typically deadly to animals (and even people) They will cause severe cardiac arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia) as well as other signs/symptoms. The poison is absorbed via the mucous membranes quite quickly and easily.
Those all sound like good reasons not to lick them.