bufo alvarius

[woof woof woof]

hey peeps - came accross another intersting site

better not import this sucker if you do not want the native species to suffer - like the cane toad has done in Austrailia.

http://www.bufoalvarius.org/

have fun.

[friendly]

Yeah, great site, but Bufo alvarius THONGS?

I had no idea they were aphrodisiac...;-).

Other than that, great information and photos. I still have an old copy of the Sonoran Desert Toad book by Albert Most, done on typing paper folded in half and mimeographed. It made quite a stir locally when it first came out.

I keep meaning to stop and spot them every year on the way to Telluride and back, but never have. Maybe this year...

Somehow the idea of squeezing toads for a high seems a little cruel to me.

Several people with pets have turned me on to samples of the latex, and it is indeed all they say it is, however.

Sometimes you can find them in exotic pet stores or they can be special ordered through such stores.

This probably does not help the wild population, though.

[Flip]

There was a bit of debate about this on one of the blog forums.

I found several sources that listed this toad as being endangered and or a threatened species.

cgee.hamline.edu/frogs/science/Threatened.pdf

While they may be "common" in several hotspots

it's reasonable to believe that human encroachment and "development"

is destroying habitat. In addition to the hippie, track home kids

with bb guns and "roadkill" taking out a fair number,

are all the (?) running about either squeezing them

to death or killing them via inept care back home.

Not talking about your friendly...

but I don't want to see these animals go down the same sad

route peyote has.

[Rev]

send em over here

well give you a million back in a few years

but seriously

its a bufo

im sure somebody can breed them in their backyard

amphibians have phenomenal powers of reproduction

if they are cheap enough that should discourage wild collection

[Flip]

That might be a bit of a problem here in the USA

As part of the whole endangered species status,

it's likely to require specal licencing of some sort

to keep such animals (even if the intent is to breed).

add to that the whole evil drug aspect....

and you'll get the idea it's may be dangerous to try

and do the right thing.

it's not like you're going to be able to keep these guys quiet at night...

the entire neighbothood will know...

not to say that it's not worth a try.

[mescalito]

On a lighter note I heard on JJJ a few days back that dogs are actually getting hooked on licking our local bufo's :D

[teonanacatl]

can our bufo marinus be used??? both contain glycocydes.

[hebrew]

quote:

---

On a lighter note I heard on JJJ a few days back that dogs are actually getting hooked on licking our local bufo's

---

i have friend who lives in cairns and he states that a dog he used to know would lick the toads and get out of it, but unfortunately the dog died in the end...dont know if it is an urban myth or actual truth, but those little creatures are the ugliest things i have seen, but i just love those little gecko guys that live up there they are sooo adorable

[Torsten]

I've got a doco that shows some pretty fucked up mullumbimby local who smoked toad venom regularly. If that was all he consumed then he was a good warning against regular use

The venom can make you blind and give you heart attacks, so it is not to be taken lightly. Check the discussion about 'black stone' in the recent 'meth lab bust' thread for more info on the prepared venom.