Here is another picture of
the toad (taken on the same night):
When my brother and I saw the toad, neither of us wanted to catch it. We were correct not to pick it up: we think that this toad is a common toad, which is a poisonous species. Do you see those large lumps behind the toad's eyes? Those are the parotoid glands, which secrete the toad's poisons. The common toad has enough poison in its parotoid glands and skin to kill an adult human.
As friendly as the toad looked, it was wise not to touch it! While the frogs we get here and in Southern Oregon are slimy, at least they're not poisonous;
the Wikipedia article about the common toad has an informative section about the effects of the species' poison.
Impressive! My sister and I caugh toads when we lived in Coatesville a decade ago. They were small and quickly died.
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I used to have fun catching frogs, lizards and snakes. :)
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