milkweed and toad

[wagnuka]

I have a large toad thats made his/her home near my milkweeds. I'm afraid that the toad will eat the cats. Any suggestions on how to evict the toad?

Nancy

[Andrea]

Hey Nancy,

I think you may not have to evict your toad. This is all guess work but here it goes --- Milkweed is toxic and if the toad eats a cat it may either spit it out (as it could taste the toxins) or if it swallows it will either die from the toxins or feel really sick. And from then on, if the toad survived, it probably won't try to eat a cat again.

What kind of toad is it? Has anyone in the forum dealt directly with this issue?

Andrea

[wagnuka]

Thank you for the info Andrea. I live in South Florida. I think its a Bufo marinus.

[Andrea]

Yikes!!! I was hoping you were going to say oak toad or southern toad. I had a mid size dog catch a bufo once. I did not know at the time that it was a bufo (learned later). I took him to vets immediately as he started salivating and got very hot. He was in the vet hospital for 5 days. They couldn't get the toxins out of him. The vet recommended me to put him down as he was suffering so I did. I cried buckets over it.

I have no idea if eating a cat would affect a bufo.

Andrea.

[meganzack]

Yuck! Yuck! The very first morning I had my cage, before I had a chance to figure out how to elevate it, I came outside onto the porch & found one of those horrible bufos just sitting there staring into the cage! I plopped a 5 gallon bucket over it, piled on some bricks, and told my son to get rid of it. On trash day, he scooped it into a heavy-duty plastic bag, and put it in the garbage can. They are so awful! I'm always afraid my cats (the feline variety... ) or the dog will find one. Thirty-four years in this house, & this is the first bufo I've ever seen.

I've read the way to kill them is to put them in the freezer, but my daughter-in-law said if I do that, they'll never eat here again, and that would not be good, because they live here!

Susan

[chanceychelsey]

Susan
I am from wayyyyyy up north. What is a bufo?

[Andrea]

It's the Bufo marinus and its common name is Marine toad or Giant Toad. We have them predominantly in South Florida and occasionally they get up here in mid Florida. Non-native toad that is normally found in S. Texas to S. America. They secrete a milky fluid from glands in their skin and it will kill a cat or dog if they put the toad in their mouth. They are toxic to humans too and if you pick one up then you need to wash your hands well.

My understanding is that most native Bufos here in the US do not pack the power that the giant toads have in their skin.

Hoped that helped! So if you are ever in South Florida and see a big toad...be careful!!!!

[freda]

Wow! I'd never heard of this critter either so when you displayed the name I googled Bufo marinus and found out more than I really need to know about them. On the other hand, now I'm curious to actually see one.

[John Beaulieu]

I had to do a search too, to see how big these were. In the first post, I actually thought you meant "eat the cats" as in felines! I still find it strange when cats are mentioned instead of caterpillars. I guess 'pillars' never caught on the same way.

John

[Andrea]

It's non-stop entertainment regarding wildlife down here.! My fiance really wishes I quit working as a field biologist and get back into the office as an armchair biologist.

Giant toads are the least of my worries .... we have scary big pythons in the Everglades that are eating the gators. Really and absolutely not joking. My boss has warned us to be really careful when we have work near the Glades. I SO hope I never run into one of those pythons!!

Freda, have a safe trip down here. And John, enjoy your winter... it must be nice to have cold weather.

[Mona Miller]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW046
This Florida website and loads of information on how to humanely kill them. The website also recommends not feeding your pets outside because food dishes can attract them.

There is a caution about confusing this species with native species when they are younger.