US Parks service warns against toad licking

Here's another 'only in America' stories.

The US National Park Service is warning people to stop licking one of the largest toads in America, due to a toxin it secretes from its glands that can create a hallucinogenic experience.

The Sonoran desert toad, which emits a quick, “weak low-pitched toot”, can make someone sick if they touch it or lick it, NPS said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Toad-licking, however, has become a way to get high, and has long been considered life-threatening. Not every toad can induce a high, and for those that can, the high they deliver varies from toad to toad, reports the Guardian.

Users often get high from either licking the back of a toad directly or by storing toxins secreted by the toad to use later.

Hallucinations and euphoria are the known effects of this activity, but it can also cause anxiety, nausea or seizures and, in some cases, death. And the park service would prefer if people stopped doing it!