Today there was one of these horrid things dead in the parking lot at the dog park. Road squish.Yesterday, there was a huge one hopping around by the poopbag dispenser.
It's an invasive, non-native species of Florida, called a Bufo Toad, or Cane Toad. They are extremely poisonous - excreting a milky substance from the glands behind their eyes. Chomping on one of these guys is fatal within minutes for a small dog, and will kill a large dog in a matter of hours ... seizures, respiratory failure. Not a pretty picture. The secretions will cause severe skin irritation to a human.
When we saw it at the dog park yesterday, one of Rick's golden retrievers was after it -- he grabbed his dog and shouted for everyone to look out. The dogs were quickly moved to the smaller fenced off area of the park, and then we carefully caught the toad with an aluminum bowl and flung it over the brick wall. This is a serious invasion -- we all have to be vigilant at the park now, especially if our dogs will chase or mouth the loathsome creatures. If you find one in your yard (they love to eat dog food -- so DO NOT leave a bowl sitting outside!)
the recommended method of disposing of them is to seal in a ziplock and FREEZE it for three days. I don't think i want a Bufo next to the Lean Cuisines!Booker has no interest in them at all. The dog park is beautiful, and there are many things much more intriguing than a hideous, and deadly, toad. Booker likes to lead the way down the middle of the paved path, checking out the doggie-crowd and baying for everyone to follow him.
I had no idea that this danger was hopping around our neighborhood. We didn't have these guys in Chicago, where the whole city becomes a giant freezer in the winter.
