This story is “ribbiting.”
The National Park Service has put out a public service announcement pleading with nature lovers to stop licking toads in the wild in order to get high off their gland-secreting psychedelic substance, 5-MeO-DMT.
The National Park Service warned in a recent Facebook post that licking a toad for an “unfrogettable” buzz, especially the Sonoran desert toad, also known as the Colorado River toad, comes with many serious health risks.
“These toads have prominent parotoid glands that secrete a potent toxin. It can make you sick if you handle the frog or get the poison in your mouth,” the Facebook post said.
“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.”
Poison control also expressed that “not only is this illegal (5-MEO-DMT is a DEA schedule I drug), it’s also quite dangerous.”
“Licking or swallowing can lead to numbness of the mouth and throat as well as severe and life-threatening effects on the heart as a result of the digoxin-like compounds and catecholamines described above,” Poison control warned.
“These effects include irregular rhythm of the heart, heart block, reduced blood pressure, and cardiac arrest.”
Despite all of the dangers and the obvious disgusting nature of this practice, numerous celebrities, including boxer Mike Tyson, and others can’t get enough of tripping on toad venom.
“I realized I had purpose in life,” Victoria Barbera, who created a toad-milking psychedelic “Bufo therapy,” told The Post of its effects.
The Colorado River toad is usually found in parts of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. It is one of North America’s largest at 7 inches. It’s also known to make a sound described by the National Park Service as a “weak, low-pitched toot, lasting less than a second.”
