National Park Service begs Americans to please stop licking the toads

Please do not lick the toads.

It's a warning no person thought the National Park Service would have to make but it's apparently necessary because people think that slurping the Colorado River toad will give them a psychedelic high.

"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," the National Park Service wrote on Facebook.

The Colorado River toad, also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, is nearly seven inches (18 cm) in length and produces a powerful psychoactive toxin through its parotoid glands.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The toxin, 5-MeO-DMT, is part of the hallucinogenic family, and when it is harvested from the toad, dried into crystals, and smoked, it can produce an intense experience lasting 15 to 30 minutes.

Lore surrounding 5-MeO-DMT, also called "Bufo," has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to celebrities like Joe Rogan, Chelsea Handler, and Mike Tyson speaking publicly about their experience with it.

Tyson said smoking the drug, made him "more present as a businessman and entrepreneur."

Rogan called it "the most terrifying experience" he's ever had on psychedelics.

But their experience did not come from licking the toad.

The Colorado River Toad's venom is deadly because it contains other toxins besides 5-MeO-DMT. Its secretions can kill a fully grown dog and there have been reports of humans dying from consuming the toad's venom.

Although the toad's venom does contain a hallucinogenic, it is also mixed with other deadly toxins.

So once again, "please refrain from licking."

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.