Ok, going to tell you a little story providing you promise you don't laugh....
When I moved down here 9 years ago I purchased a property that was right next to a laguna. As you can imagine, there were toads around every day, even more so whilst it was raining. There were several dogs on the property and one day whilst we were sitting outside two of the dogs were playing with a toad. I had no clue that they were poisonous and just left them....within minutes the younger of the two dogs was on the ground, whimpering and foaming at the mouth. A few minutes later so was the other one. Fortunately the owner of the dogs had medication in her fridge and medicated them straight away....by the way, these were German Shepherds. Within a day or so the dogs were fine. So.....a week or so later I saw one of the dogs playing with a toad again, (obviously dogs don't remember certain things!). I panicked, not wanting the dog to go through the same thing again, and picked up the nearest thing to me, which happened to be a broom. Instead of simply brushing it away I turned the broom around and started to whack the toad, (believe it or not, I have never killed an animal in my life, but I was pixxed). Well, the majority of my whacking attempts completely missed and the ones that did had absolutely no effect what so ever, it was like whacking raw hide! Then it happened....the toad spat poison at me that hit my leg...I just carried on trying to whack it, failing miserably but within one minute I collapsed, my leg burning with excruciating pain. Thirty minutes later I was vomiting and had a fever....believe me, it was horrible. I never realized that the toads could spit poison until reading up on it...although toads generally secrete poison via their glands, under rough situations they can spit poison, and I guess being whacked on the head merited a dose of poison. I never went toad whacking after that day!
For your info:
Toads are also poisonous to pets and many die after mouthing these toads. Signs of poisoning through ingestion include profuse salivation, twitching, vomiting, shallow breathing, and collapse of the hind limbs. Death may occur by cardiac arrest within 15 minutes.
The toad responds to threat by turning side-on so its parotid glands are directed towards the attacker. The poison usually oozes out of the glands, but toads can squirt a fine spray for a short distance if they are handled roughly. The poison is absorbed through mucous membranes such as eyes, mouth and nose, and in humans may cause intense pain, temporary blindness and inflammation.
First Aid
First aid treatment includes irrigating (washing with a lot of water) the eyes, mouth and nose if they have been exposed to toad poison. Seek medical attention if symptoms persist. When handling any frog or toad, protect the eyes, wear gloves, and thoroughly wash hands before and after touching the animal.
i will post the picture tomorrow, those toads are super cute!
