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Some requests are more extravagant than others. The US National Park Service recently urged visitors not to lick the skin of the Sonoran Desert Toad, known for its psychedelic venom.
This approximately 18 cm amphibian, one of the largest in the United States, with olive green or mottled brown skin, secretes toxic substances with highly coveted hallucinogenic effects.
“You can get sick if you touch the frog or ingest its poison“, warned the American national parks last week on their Twitter account.
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. ??
Thank you. Oops. Toots!
—National Park Service (@NatlParkService) November 1, 2022
“As is the case with most species you encounter in a national park, whether it’s a banana slug, an unfamiliar mushroom, or a large toad with glow-in-the-dark eyes , please refrain from licking them“, they added.
This warning did not specify the number of toad-licking people who reside in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, but this practice appears in animated television series such as “The Simpsons” and “The Griffins”. .
To defend themselves from predators, they secrete a substance “5-MeO-DMT”, nicknamed the “God molecule”, which is a hallucinogenic psychotropic.
Personalities, such as boxing champion Mike Tyson, have spoken of the use of this substance for therapeutic, recreational, and even spiritual purposes.
The experience usually lasts between 15 and 30 minutes and is considered very intense.
But this poison can also be dangerous for humans according to scientists.
Hunted en masse for its poisonous skin, the Sonoran Desert Toad has already almost disappeared in California according to a New York Times article published in March 2022