The National Park Service NPS issued a serious warning on Twitter: Never lick a toad! Is there really someone who licks a toad? That's what I did.
When I first saw this news, I understood every word, but I really didn't understand it. This is far from April Fool's Day, it won't be spoof news somewhere, right? But it was CNN from the United Kingdom who reported this, could it be that magical realism has expanded from South America to North America? Everything about this strange thing starts with this toad.
Toad's self-defense skills
Toads, commonly known as toads, are amphibians that have been present since the distant Jurassic. The long years have not given toads sharp claws and huge bodies, but they have evolved another "poisonous" skill: secreting venom.
The National Park Service NPS is warning everyone that a species called the Colorado River Toad, or Sonoran Desert Toad, is widely distributed in the southwestern United States. When it encounters danger, it secretes a venom containing 5-methoxydimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). A toad secretes enough venom to poison adult dogs, and ordinary people licking it may cause nausea, anxiety or epilepsy. In severe cases, it can even lead to death. In 2020, a Spanish photographer, José Luis Abad, died after licking the toad.
However, in the face of ugly toads, everyone generally hides away, why should a good person lick the toad?
The peculiar effects of the Colorado River Toad
The reason for this is because the venom secreted by the toad can cause drug-like hallucinations, which can last from 15 minutes to half an hour. Drug trafficking is illegal in any country, and the United States is no exception. But numerous surveys around the world show that the United States is the world's largest consumer of drugs. The huge market and police supervision have led to things going in two directions: on the one hand, there will be fewer drug traffickers, and on the other hand, drugs will become more expensive.
And many "addicts" are impoverished by poison, often in the later stage, they cannot pay for expensive industrial products, so they turn their attention to the toads that are common in the park!
The toad himself never expected that the self-defense weapon that had evolved over thousands of years would become the fragrant food in the mouth of these "addicts".
In fact, extracting toxins from Colorado River toads has a relatively mature process, but it is impossible for everyone to be "Breaking Bad", and for many "addicts" who have hovered on the edge of life and death, this cost is too high. Moreover, the process is strictly controlled by the government, and 5-MeO-DMT is subject to first-class control in the United States. If you don't get it right, you won't worry about the food for the rest of your life.
Toad licking industry
And no matter how powerful the police are, they can't convict me just because a few toads pop into my house, right? As a result, some people began to keep the Colorado River toad as a pet.
Speaking of breeding toads, we Chinese definitely talk about it. Chinese toads have many medicinal uses, and there have been farmers who have cultivated toads artificially since ancient times. But on the other side of the ocean, the United States is different, they raise toads to "get addicted".
A veteran special forces soldier once licked the toxin to relieve nerve center symptoms, and then helped his comrades collect the toxin. Still others have turned this behavior directly into a business, breeding Colorado River toads at home and then attracting some low-level "addicts" to come and lick the toads. The fee is as low as $250 per session and $8,500 for the high-end one. Someone needs, someone breeds, someone makes a bridge, and gradually, this business model is quickly copied and a large-scale industry is formed.
Some people may be curious and want to ask, can this kind of you lick, I lick, can it be clean?
Go deeper, in fact, this is not surprising, they are all a bunch of "addicts" who don't even want their lives, how can they be clean and hygienic. I bet they weren't wearing masks at the time.
Soon, this behavior was also banned by the local government. The police can convict you as long as they can prove that you "intentionally licked others". Finally, this gathering of crowds to lick toads stopped.
Crazy toads prey on the army
But the "addicts" still have a demand, so they directly bypass the middlemen, although they can't buy it with money, I don't believe that I can't find it in the field! So groups of impoverished "addicts" began to embrace nature, frequently going in and out of the park, up and down the mountain, and tirelessly looking for the Colorado River toad.
But they are not professional hunters, and it is difficult to tell which are Colorado River toads and which are not. So no matter what kind of toad you catch, scare it, or slap its chin, let it activate the defense mechanism to secrete venom, and then lick it. If not, just throw it away and release it; If it is, it will be caught back, realizing the mysterious character of the East: "Catch the toad and grab the urine".
So there are people in the countryside, in the fields, in the parks, in the ditches, there are always people who are constantly rummaging, licking and trying all kinds of toads. And enjoy it, go forward. With the joint efforts of many "addicts", the number of local Colorado River toads in the United States has decreased sharply and is "facing collapse"! Even the Chinese who "see more and eat widely" have to retreat, and we are still no better than the Americans in terms of this kind of fierceness.
Toad licking hazards
The U.S. National Park Service mentioned at the beginning is still tirelessly warning everyone that "in addition to venom on toads in the wild, there are a large number of viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.", even if you are at the top of the food chain like Beiye, do not try to lick the toad.
After all, this toxin is comparable to drugs and can indeed be addictive. Once you start, it's hard to quit.
In any case, licking toads did not produce poison and did not gather the crowd, this behavior is not illegal, and the US management can hardly find any other way except to appeal.
Some netizens felt that the government was too lenient, and directly replied: "You are not my father"
Judging by the situation, the work of the United States in drug control is really a long way off.
Toad disaster in Australia
Coincidentally, a similar situation occurred in Australia, far across the ocean. It is said that in the thirties of the last century, a serious sugar cane infestation caused heavy losses to the people at that time. In order to eliminate insects, people introduced the natural enemy of pests - sea toads.
However, when the 102 extermination heroes arrived, they found that the pests were all in the two-meter-tall sugar cane flowers, and the sea toads could not jump up at all. Although there are no pests as food, the local natural environment allows sea toads to reproduce wantonly, not only can grow up to five pounds, but also very toxic. Even lizards, snakes, and even crocodiles can be poisoned. Sea toads have directly become another, more troublesome disaster.
Seventy years later, there are an estimated 1.5 billion local sea toads, and Australia's northern coast is occupied by them.
In the face of such a large population, a good partner of humans, dogs have suffered. Because dogs are likely to lick when judging objects. This lick does not matter, it is directly addictive. The pleasure of drug addiction makes many dogs lick their heads with toads. The local area had to open drug rehabilitation centers for dogs.
Detoxification of dogs cannot be criticized like people, but prepare them with a batch of fake toads, coated with mustard. Although this trick is a bit of a loss, it is indeed a method. However, humans themselves have not been able to successfully quit drugs, and it is really unrealistic to want to get dogs off drugs through this method. Many dogs have "relapse".
It can be seen that Australia's work in detoxifying dogs is also a long way off.
Perhaps, in the world outside of our understanding, there will be many people who do things that are difficult for us to understand, but in their eyes, this is what the real world looks like. Colorful and strange, it is the real world.
But for whatever reason, everyone agrees on toads, that is: don't lick!
Author: Fangku School: Kawakawa
Wonderful article recommendation:
Robbed at gunpoint, betrayed by trusted people, what is real life in Africa?
Sanya, the "Hawaii of the East", has a status crisis and fewer tourists, and the reasons are embarrassing
The once-popular Japanese electronics disappeared? The industry failed miserably, where to go after the curtain?