Colorado River toad
This evening presented another monsoon light show accompanied by actual rain. It wasn't a torrential downpour, but it did indeed rain. I didn't head out on my walk until after the storms cleared through the area.
Just up the street I encountered this guy. I snapped his mugshot with my cell phone (at night) so he's hard to see, but this Colorado River toad is as big as a small dinner plate!
He was so huge he couldn't heave his girth up onto the curb though I tried to shoo him in that direction. (I didn't want him to get smashed on the road!)
I knew not to touch him (or her?). Around here, you just never know what's poisonous. Sure enough, this guy is poisonous--enough so that its venom can kill a full grown dog.
And its venom also has hallucinogenic characteristics. Uh, huh. I don't want to BEGIN to imagine how THAT trait was discovered...(Let's smoke a toad...)
In case you're wondering, those other things in the picture are seed pods from a Velvet Mesquite tree. They're everywhere--especially after a storm!
Just up the street I encountered this guy. I snapped his mugshot with my cell phone (at night) so he's hard to see, but this Colorado River toad is as big as a small dinner plate!
He was so huge he couldn't heave his girth up onto the curb though I tried to shoo him in that direction. (I didn't want him to get smashed on the road!)
I knew not to touch him (or her?). Around here, you just never know what's poisonous. Sure enough, this guy is poisonous--enough so that its venom can kill a full grown dog.
And its venom also has hallucinogenic characteristics. Uh, huh. I don't want to BEGIN to imagine how THAT trait was discovered...(Let's smoke a toad...)
In case you're wondering, those other things in the picture are seed pods from a Velvet Mesquite tree. They're everywhere--especially after a storm!
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