Do not lick the toads. We repeat: do not lick the toads.
It might seem obvious that licking a toad isn’t a great idea, but the allure has been just too great for some people recently when it comes to Sonoran Desert toads, also known as Colorado River toads. An expert in Arizona is warning the public to resist the urge.
These amphibians have been popping up in the Phoenix, Ariz., area due to recent rainfall. They are vulnerable to human tongues due to a neurotoxin that they excrete, explained that expert, Grey Stafford – a zoologist and director of the Banner Poison Control and Drug Information Center – per Arizona’s Family. Sonoran Desert toad neurotoxin contains something called 5-MeO-DMT that people seek to lick to get high, the outlet said.
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Writing for Arizona Republic, Madison Knutson noted that the movie “Friendship” on HBO Max features a scene where actor Tim Robinson’s character licks a toad in an effort to get high. Prescient as always, “The Simpsons” also included toad-licking as a gag in an episode that aired more than 25 years ago.
“Effects following administration of 5‐MeO‐DMT are similar to those of other tryptamine psychedelics such as psilocybin and DMT and are known to include a diverse set of acute subjective effects including visual, auditory, and time perception distortions, emotional experiences, and memory impairment,” according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Neurochemistry.
This year, the “Something Offbeat” podcast with KRLD’s Mike Rogers dove into the growing field of psychedelic academia, with a particular focus on psilocybin mushrooms. DMT, the other psychedelic compared to the Sonoran Desert toad compound, is found in the ayahuasca plant, according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation.
When it comes to 5‐MeO‐DMT excreted by toads, a high could also come with illness and even death, Strafford warned. He has some experience with the toxin, since his German Shepard survived its own decision to lick a Sonoran Desert toad.
“The first thing I would do is take a garden hose and flush their tongue and get to an emergency room right away,” said Stafford, offering advice to other owners of curious pets. “The key thing is you want to keep their body temperature from spiking cause that could lead to seizure or death, and so quick rinse of the tongue, work that tongue, get that slime off.”
Around this time of year in 2022, the National Park Service posted a spooky photo of a Sonoran Desert toad in Arizona along with a warning about its toxin. Additionally, it noted that the toads are some of the largest in North America at around 7 inches and that they make a “weak, low-pitched toot, lasting less than a second.”
“These toads have prominent parotoid glands that secrete a potent toxin,” said the NPS. “It can make you sick if you handle the frog or get the poison in your mouth. 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.”
Wild mushrooms that appear after the Arizona rains should also be avoided, Arizona’s Family added. It said that mushrooms can be hard to identify and that some can be poisonous.
“Officials advise contacting the Poison Control and Drug Information Center at (800) 222-1222 with any questions about toxic toads or mushrooms,” said the outlet.
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