Bufo Toad Infestation Problem Reported in Palm Beach Gardens in South Florida

March 25, 2019 admin FL Wildlife Comments Off on Bufo Toad Infestation Problem Reported in Palm Beach Gardens in South Florida

Dr. Myles Rowley of Stuart Sound Animal Hospital speaks on the dangers that bufo toads pose to pets.

There has been a recent infestation of poisonous Bufo Toads, or Cane Toads, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The infestation is believed be caused by recent warm weather and heavy rains. Hundreds or thousands of very small toads have infested lawns, porches and swimming pools. The toad pictured in the ABC News tweet is a file photo of a larger toad, not a Bufo Toad.

Symptoms of exposure to Bufo toad poisoning
It is not unusual for dogs and cats to lick, mouth, or bite into Bufo toads. These activities cause the toad to secrete poisons from the glands on their head. Animals exposed to Bufo toad poisoning might exhibit any of the following symptoms:

Seizures
Excessive drooling
Pawing at their mouth
Stumbling
Very red gums
Heart arrhythmia
Pacing
Trembling
Excitable behavior
Vomiting

— Florida Environmental

Ingestion of a Bufo Toad or multiple toads can cause dogs or cats to suffer hypersalivation, vomiting, hyperexcitability, and bright red gums.

Symptoms can occur immediately after a dog or cat licks or eats a toad.

First aid for affected pets involves irrigating the pets mouth from the side with water from a garden hose — from the side to prevent aspiration. Pet owners should then get their pet to a vet.

Vets work to control cardiac arrhythmias and seizures and give supportive care until the poison clears the pets system.

The Bufo toads have poisonous glands right behind their eyes.

People need to be especially cautious of their pets from dusk to dawn in the Spring and Summer months.

Toad Busters install barriers to keep Bufo Toads out of yards.

Bufo is a large genus of about 150 species of true toads in the amphibian family Bufonidae. Several species of Bufo toads produce poison with psychoactive properties. The poison of one species (Bufo alvarius) contains both 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin, while some others contain only bufotenin. Bufotenin is an alkaloid that is found in the skin of some species of toads, mushrooms, higher plants, and mammals. 5-MeO-DMT is a psychedelic of the tryptamine.

According to pest control management company Florida Environmental, The Bufo toad is not native to Florida, but it has a healthy population in Florida now. The Bufo Toad is poisonous in all life cycles. The poison from the toads has never been known to kill humans, but eating the toads or boiled toad eggs can be deadly.

Thousands of frogs and toads are swarming a Palm Beach Gardens community known as Mira Bella, and it’s leaving neighbors concerned .

ABC News photo in tweet below is a common toad or earth toad, not a Bufo Toad …









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