Posted on 03/31/2024 1:10:52 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Today we discuss the biggest toad you’ve ever seen, the giant toad. The giant toad is also known as the cane toad in English. In Spanish, it’s sapo gigante or sapo de caña, which are exact translations.
The scientific name used to be (Bufo marinus) but was changed to (Rhinella marina) when DNA testing revealed that they were more closely related to a different group of toads than was previously thought.
Giant toads are giant, especially the females. The males are a decent size, but females can grow to nine inches long and over three pounds! The color of their skin can vary from gray to olive to red-brown. Most of the individuals that I’ve seen could be successfully described as brown. They have rough, warty skin and two large, puffy glands behind their eyes called parotoid glands.
Giant toads can be found in a wide variety of habitats in Costa Rica from sea level up to over 5,000 feet in elevation. They seem to be particularly prevalent in hot lowland areas and in and around human settlements. They make themselves at home around people’s homes, often eating cat and dog food left outside for the family pet.
We don’t have pet food outside, but during buggy times of year they frequent the porches of my house eating the insects attracted to our outside lights. They let me know they’ve stopped by for a visit by leaving, what I believe are called in the scientific literature, giant toad poops on the porch.
Giant toads are terrestrial and nocturnal. They hide under cover during the heat of the day and emerge at night to hunt. They are one of the creatures whose diet seems to include whatever it can catch and fit into its mouth. They eat insects, reptiles, other amphibians, small reptiles, crustaceans, some plants, feces, and refuse from the people who live nearby.
These toads can live a long time, up to 10 to 15 years in wild, which gives them plenty of time to grow into giants. They’re afforded this time to grow because they are toxic in every stage of their lives. The eggs are toxic. The tadpoles are toxic. The adults are toxic. Adult giant toads produce a milky-white fluid called bufotoxin from those two parotoid glands behind their eyes.
Bufotoxin is toxic to a whole slew of animals including humans. The literature says the toad’s toxin possesses hallucinogenic properties similar to those of LSD, but the same literature says a large enough dose can kill a grown man, so toad licking is probably not a good idea.
Giant toads are large enough to trigger my camera traps on their own. I often record them near bodies of fresh water. Many times it’s not the toads themselves that trigger the camera, but another creature walking by, and the toad happens to be there. See if you can spot the toad in each of the clips in the video below.
Southern Florida was lousy with them in the ‘80s.
Jesse Waters mentioned people smoking the dried dripping from a toad to get a psychedelic rush. People call it “smoking toad,” but since there is no pipe made for the entire toad, they smoke the “milk” from squeezing the glands on their neck.
Yuck!
I spotted it !
good one!
When my sister and brother-in-law lived in Honduras, they lost two dogs to the toads.....
They are terrible in Naples. I take a frog gig and a Home Depot bucket and can fill it twice in an evening in my neighborhood.
A few days later, I could do it all over again.
Reminds me of the canals at Homestead. On rainy nights, the toads would be all over the roads and lawns. Then there were the giant blue land crabs, and the walking catfish.
It would be great if they had any redeeming value, but they don't. At least the iguanas can be eaten....
Mike Tyson Says He Smokes Toad Venom As Much As 3 Times In A Day
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-tyson-toad-venom_n_6194e5c6e4b0451e54f2ac75
It’s no wonder there are so many. The article says that a female can produce 70,000 eggs per year.
“Cane toad tadpole lure to launch as toxic pests’ breeding season heats up” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-22/cane-toad-tadpoles-lure-research-game-changer/100477028
Thanks for that article!
If available in USA, I’ll try to get it and set in pond behind my house!!
“Drop your load on the giant toad...”
Here’s a DIY way to trap and bait them.
https://youtu.be/Ua4Byi8nDHw?si=miTsPMrIb-jOgMgY
The tips for the Watergum trap available in Australia may be helpful to know for the DIY trap.
https://youtu.be/xL_sVA7kiCo?si=PgowkByABPpIQMQp
Thank you very much! The first video was great!!!
I owe you an India Pale Ale!
I will set up my own trap (after getting approval from the Community Development District) and see how it goes!
I’ll have no issues throwing some gimpy, injured toads in the tub though!
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