Park rangers beg people to stop licking random toads to hallucinate. ‘Please refrain’
Park officials are warning people to please avoid licking random toads they may encounter in the outdoors.
Last week, the National Park Service shared a black and white photo of a Sonoran Desert toad that was captured on a motion sensor camera and shared information about the species that included a warning against licking 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,” the National Park Service wrote on Facebook and Twitter.
The toads, also known as the Colorado River toad, are some of the largest toads in North America at nearly 7 inches in length, officials said in the post.
They have protruding parotoid glands just behind their eyes that secrete “a potent toxin” that can make you sick if you touch the frogs or “get the poison in your mouth.”
But people have also discovered that these “secretions contain a powerful hallucinogenic” called 5-MeO-DMT, National Public Radio reported.
Smoking toad venom has grown in popularity across the United States, according to an entry on AddictionCenter.com about “toad venom addiction and abuse.”
The National Park Service did not immediately respond to a request from McClatchy News asking how often park rangers contend with cases of people licking toads. The toads are found in Mexico and U.S. states California, New Mexico and Arizona.
Many people in the comments shared that they must constantly monitor their dogs and other outdoor pets at night to make sure they aren’t messing with the toads.
Jokesters and admirers also chimed.
“The fact that people need to be reminded not to lick things found in national parks is disturbing,” one wrote.
“Don’t lick the toads? There goes my weekend plans,” said another.
