According to media reports such as "Observer Network", in today's United States, if you see someone grabbing a toad to his mouth and licking it around with his tongue, don't be surprised! This kind of jaw-dropping strange behavior is by no means unique to him, and this phenomenon is actually popular among the "addict" population in the United States.
Image from "Observer Network" video screenshot
The Observer reprinted a recent CNN report on October 8, and the National Park Service (NPS) recently issued a reminder calling on people not to lick an amphibian called the Sonoran desert toad (or Sonora desert toad), which is too unhealthy.
It's impossible to look at directly! It is estimated that many friends will be very surprised and confused when they read this news, how can humans use their tongues to lick a dirty animal as a toad in a puddle? Not to mention that most toads are still poisonous? This behavior is too difficult to understand, but in fact, those who lick the toad want it to be poisonous and like it so much that they can't care about getting dirty.
Why are these people so "heavy-tasted"? It turns out that the parotid glands on both sides of the head of the Sonoran toad can secrete venom, which contains a substance that makes people have nervous pleasure and hallucinations of thinking, called 5-methoxydimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT, chemical formula is C12H16N2O), also known as toadin, is a strong alkaloid hallucinogen, which can make the central nervous system of humans or animals excited, and the time can last for about half an hour. It has been classified as a first-class controlled drug in US law, and it is not easy to buy it, and its price is not cheap, but Sonoran toad can actually provide it for free, and for those "addicts" who cannot live a normal life without marijuana and lack money to buy, he does not care about toads.
Sonoran desert toad that can produce this toxin, also known as the Colorado River toad, wild species are widely distributed in the Midwest of the United States and Mexico and other countries, its body size is quite large, up to 18 cm long, is one of the largest toads in North America, and its lifespan can be up to 20 years, few people have paid attention to this wild amphibian before, but when people know that it can secrete toadin, it is different, it is said that its wild species are rapidly decreasing, and the artificial breeding industry has emerged, The reason is none other than the increasing number of people catching and buying this toad.
According to the New York Times, the first person to know the "magical" function of the secretions of the Sonoran desert toad was the special soldier Marcus, who had relieved the pain of the central nervous system by licking the toad's toxins, how did he know? It is likely that dogs like to lick this toad, and there have been reports of inexplicable excitement in dogs licking toads in the United States and Australia.
After learning about the toad's "magical" function, Marcus and his wife started farming the toad, supposedly starting out as a non-profit organization to help those in need get the toxin. But as more and more people know the magical function of the Sonoran desert toad, the demand for this toad is also increasing, so there are more and more breeders, giving birth to a large-scale aquaculture industry for this toad, and farmers not only use this toad for people to lick and eat experience, but also extract toad to purify and sell.
The report also mentions the Sonora toad industry of 42-year-old Brooke in Texas, who was originally a teacher who later quit his job to breed Sonora toads, regularly organizing people to participate in toad licking activities, advocating that the toad produces a "sacred drug" that charges at least $250 per time and up to $8,500 for high-end private custom projects in the industry.
Toad lickers catch Sonoran toads at night
I have to say that the world is so big, there are no wonders! The "legalization" of marijuana and other drugs in the United States in April this year is surprising enough, and now some people actually feel it by licking toads, but this thing can be fatal when used in excess, and there is precedent, reporting that a photographer died of smoking the poison in 2020.
In fact, the U.S. National Park Service has repeatedly warned people not to lick the Sonoran toad, not only is it poisonous, but also because this toad has a variety of bad bacteria, viruses and parasites, etc., but helplessly this behavior has become a social phenomenon, many addicts flock to it, and has formed an industry, which will basically not disappear in the short term.
Indulgence without moderation, grotesque behavior will only increase, and strange phenomena in such a society will only increase!
Resources:
"Observer Network" November 8 article "US National Park Service issued a reminder: Do not lick Sonora toads"
People's Daily News April 6 article "International Watch: Why is the United States legalizing marijuana?" 》