Brass Castle
@brasscastle.bsky.social
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63. Late deafened. Disabled. COPD sufferer. Married, living in the Philippine jungle. House full of rescued cats and dogs. Avatar is me. Banner is a beach on faraway Boracay Island. Read/write/70s child/OI/Eclectic taste
![A National Parks ranger in jeans and black gumboots holds the most recently found largest cane toad, dubbed 'Toadzilla'.
The cane toad has poison glands, and the tadpoles are highly toxic to most animals if ingested. Its toxic skin can kill many animals, both wild and domesticated, and cane toads are particularly dangerous to dogs. Because of its voracious appetite, the cane toad has been introduced to many regions of the Pacific and the Caribbean islands as a method of agricultural pest control.
The cane toad is now considered a pest and an invasive species in many of its introduced regions. The 1988 film Cane Toads: An Unnatural History documented the trials and tribulations of the introduction of cane toads in Australia.
The skin of the adult cane toad is toxic, as well as the enlarged parotoid glands behind the eyes, and other glands across its back.
Components of bufotoxin are toxic to many animals; even human deaths have been recorded due to the consumption of cane toads. Dogs are especially prone to be poisoned by licking or biting toads. Pets showing excessive drooling, extremely red gums, head-shaking, crying, loss of coordination, and/or convulsions require immediate veterinary attention.
Bufotenin, one of the chemicals excreted by the cane toad, is classified as a schedule 9 drug under Australian law, alongside heroin and LSD.[53] The effects of bufotenin are thought to be similar to those of mild poisoning; the stimulation, which includes mild hallucinations, lasts less than an hour. As the cane toad excretes bufotenin in small amounts, and other toxins in relatively large quantities, toad licking could result in serious illness or death.
In addition to releasing toxin, the cane toad is capable of inflating its lungs, puffing up, and lifting its body off the ground to appear taller and larger to a potential predator.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kmeze22tgxnj22ambjlov7io/bafkreigvd6fxufeaeityarxe5hrn2hur7yzkm3unibqnyvdxw64e32v5ne)
