Large, Invasive Toxic Cane Toads Enjoy Summer Nights In South Florida & Threaten Your Pets

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — South Florida’s caller dense rainfall sets the cleanable temper for elephantine toxic toads to breed. They’re called Cane toads, oregon Bufo toads, and the invasive taxon tin beryllium deadly for cats and dogs.

Cane toads are the largest toad breed successful Florida. They travel retired astatine nighttime during the summertime and devour insects, different toads and frogs, protected vertebrate taxon and adjacent tiny autochthonal animals, according to experts.

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And they tin termination your beloved pets truthful don’t fto your dogs oregon cats adjacent them.

FWC officials accidental if your favored licks oregon swallows a cane toad, lavation their rima retired for 10 minutes, hitch the gums and tongue, and get your favored to a vet immediately. The toxins tin termination successful arsenic small arsenic 15 minutes.

Signs of nonstop interaction with pets including accrued salivation and drooling, frothing astatine the mouth, red, slimy gums, crying, vomiting, and seizures.

Cane toad venom, besides called bufotoxin, tin origin tegument and oculus irritation successful radical who grip them.

So, what bash they look like?

They are often confused with the autochthonal confederate toad due to the fact that they person a akin signifier and size, but autochthonal confederate toads person bilateral crests connected apical of their heads portion cane toads bash not.

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Cane toads are reddish-brown to grayish brownish successful color, with a airy yellowish oregon beige belly. They besides person enlarged glands down the eyes, which space downward onto the shoulders. The glands secrete a potent milky-white toxin, the bufotoxin, arsenic a defence against predators.

They scope successful size from 6 to 9 inches long, which is overmuch larger than autochthonal Florida toads.

Cane toads are autochthonal to South and Central America. They were archetypal imported to Florida to effort and power cultivation pests successful sweetener cane fields successful the 1930s and 40s and determination were deliberate releases by carnal dealers successful the 60s.

Cane toads are good established successful the authorities now, from the Keys to northbound of Tampa and the colonisation is inactive growing. They are commonly recovered successful yards, astir buildings oregon adjacent canals and ponds. They bash breed year-round successful lasting water, streams, canals and ditches.

If you find a cane toad successful your yard, oregon anyplace else, you tin termination it. As substance of fact, the FWC encourages radical who spot cane toads to termination them due to the fact that they are a menace to autochthonal taxon and pets.  They aren’t protected successful Florida but by anti-cruelty law.

How bash you humanely termination a cane toad?

The University of Florida recommends euthanizing them by rubbing oregon spraying 20% benzocaine toothache gel oregon sunburn spray (not 5% lidocaine) connected the toad.  When it becomes unconscious, enactment it successful a sealed integrative container and frost it earlier throwing it out.

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CLICK HERE for a representation that shows the latest reported sightings and captures of the toad.