# data[].attributes.body
These toads live commonly live in the Sonoran Desert which spans through the border wall. Their scientific family is; Bufonidae. Spanish name: Sapo Grande. Scientific name: Incilius alvarius.

# data[].attributes.body
The Sonoran Desert Toad is one of the largest toads known to live in North America; they averagely are up to 7 inches long. Their colour is normally a uniform green-gray on their back with an off-white underbelly.

# data[].attributes.body
Sonoran toads eat insects and arthropods, some species can eat small reptiles, mammals, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
This specific toad releases a potent milky white toxin from its skin when threatened by other creatures. This toxin is strong enough to eradicate a full grown dog.

# data[].attributes.headline
How they were affected by the U.S/ Mexico Border.

# data[].attributes.subject
How they were affected by the U.S/ Mexico Border.

# data[].attributes.body
They lost important habitation areas. This toad also lost many areas needed to gather resources. Their habitat naturally goes into Mexico (through the Sonoran Desert) and they also had natural habitat in Sinaloa, Mexico.

# data[].attributes.body
This toad manly migrates during monsoon seasons south into the sonoran desert area in Mexico. At this time, we couldn't find a corridor that the toad passes through.

# data[].attributes.body
This toad is a very beautiful creature. (just like you! :D)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Order: Salientia
Family: Bufonidae (true toads)
Other common names: Colorado River toad
Spanish name: sapo grande

Distinguishing Features

At 7 inches (18 cm) or more this is one of the largest toads native to North America. Adults have a uniformly green to greenish-gray dorsum (topside of the body) and creamy white venter (underside). Large white turbercles, or warts,are found at the angle of the jaw, but aside from the large parotoid glands and a few large lumps on the hind legs, this species has relatively smooth skin. Recently metamorphosed toadlets will be tan to green with orange or red spots on the dorsum. Unlike other male toads in our region, male Sonoran Desert toads do not have dark throats; males develop darkened, thick callosities (calluses) on the inside of the thumbs of the forelimbs during the breeding season.

Range

Found from Central Arizona to southwestern New Mexico and Sinaloa, Mexico; historically entered southeastern California, though it has not been seen there since the 1970s.

Habitat

This toad is common in the Sonoran Desert. It occurs in a variety of habitats including creosote bush desertscrub, grasslands up into oak-pine woodlands, and thornscrub and tropical deciduous forest in Mexico.

Life History

Sonoran Desert toads feed upon a variety of insects throughout their lives. Adults eat primarily beetles, although large individuals will occasionally eat small vertebrates including other toads. Sonoran Desert toads are active from late May to September, though principally during the summer rainy season. They are nocturnal during the hot summer months. The males call is weak, sounding somewhat like a ferryboat whistle. Eggs are laid in temporary rainpools and permanent ponds. Larvae metamorphose after 6 to 10 weeks. This species lives at least 10 years, and perhaps as many as 20 years.

Comments

Sonoran Desert toads have extremely potent, defensive toxins that are released from several glands (primarily the paratoids) in the skin. Animals that harass this species generally are intoxicated through the mouth, nose, or eyes. Dog owners should be cautious: the toxins are strong enough to kill full grown dogs that pick up or mouth the toads. Symptoms of intoxication are excessive salivation, irregular heartbeat and gait, and pawing at the mouth. If a dog displays any of these symptoms, use a garden hose to rinse its mouth from back to front and consult a veterinarian.

An Open Door Policy

Colorado River toads are impressive amphibians, the largest toads in the Sonoran Desert, with an equally impressive diet of insects, including the large palo verde wood borer beetles. Each summer we are regularly visited inside our home by some of these toads. One in particular visited us for five consecutive years.

The welcome sighting of this toad always indicated to us that the summer rains were due to commence almost immediately. He made his appearance in the house by entering through the flap-type dog door, after which he traveled about the house consuming any insects he found along the way. Eventually he arrived in the sun porch off our living room, where he plopped himself in the water of a fountain in the corner of that room. We are not sure, but believe that he hibernated one winter in the soil of a flowerbed adjacent to the fountain.

It has been several years since we last saw this, our favorite toad, but others of his species visit us each summer.

Bill Woodin, ASDM Director Emeritus & Beth Woodin, ASDM trustee

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Order: Salientia Family: Bufonidae (true toads) Other common names: Colorado River toad Spanish name: sapo grande Distinguishing Features At 7 inches (18 cm) or more this is one of the largest toads native to North America. Adults have a uniformly green to greenish-gray dorsum (topside of the body) and creamy white venter (underside).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sonoran desert toads, also known as Colorado River toads, are the largest North American toads. They have fairly smooth skin for a toad, with few warts. Skin color is typically greenish-gray with a creamy white underside. They have prominent parotoid glands that secrete a potent toxin. They live in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexican desert.

SPECIES IN DETAIL

Sonoran Desert Toad
Incilius alvarius
CONSERVATION STATUS: Data deficient

CLIMATE CHANGE: Not Applicable

At the Aquarium

The Sonoran desert toad resides in FROGS: Dazzling & Disappearing in the Tropical Pacific Gallery.

Geographic Distribution

Extreme southeastern California, southern Arizona, extreme southern New Mexico south into Mexico.

Habitat

This frog can be found in a variety of arid habitats, including creosote bush-mesquite lowlands and grasslands to groves of sycamore, oak, or walnut trees in mountain canyons and deciduous forests in Mexico. It takes refuge in rodent burrows during extreme heat or cold. It is typically found near permanent water sources, including man-made ditches and canals, but also may be found near temporary water sources such as temporary rain pools.

Physical Characteristics

This large toad's dorsal color is greenish-gray to dark brown, often with small brownish or orange spots. The ventral side is cream colored. It has fairly smooth skin for a toad, with some warts. It has distinct cranial crest curves above each eye and prominent, elongated parotoid glands on each side of the back of the head and on its hind legs. There is a white bump on each side of its mouth.

Size

This frog is 4 to 7.4 inches (11 to 18.7 cm) in length and weighs 10.6 ounces (300 gr).

Diet

Sonoran desert toads feed on spiders, insects, lizards, mice, snails, centipedes, and other amphibians in the wild. At the Aquarium we feed them crickets, horned worms, roaches, and pinky mice.

Reproduction

Mating occurs at night from May to July, mainly during spring and summer rains. Mating may be independent of rainfall where there is a permanent water source available. Males gather at water sources and call to the females with their low-pitched, hoot-like call. When the male is joined by a receptive female, she lays up to 8,000 eggs in a long gelatinous string in the water. Fertilization is external. Tadpoles hatch in two to twelve days and metamorphose into toads in approximately one month.

Behavior

These nocturnal toads remain underground during the heat or cold of the day, depending on the seasons.

Adaptation

If this toad feels threatened, it secretes a white, milky, liquid hallucinogenic toxin from its parotoid glands under its jaw. If ingested by a predator, it can cause nausea or even death.

Longevity

This toad's estimated lifespan is nine years or more in captivity. There have been some wild-caught toads found to be over fifteen years old.

Conservation

There is no current conservation work regarding this species, but it is listed as endangered by New Mexico's Department of Fish and Game. This species may be affected by habitat loss and pesticide use.

SPECIES IN DETAIL | Print full entry

Sonoran Desert Toad
Incilius alvarius
CLIMATE CHANGE: Not Applicable

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sonoran desert toads, also known as Colorado River toads, are the largest North American toads. They have fairly smooth skin for a toad, with few warts. Skin color is typically greenish-gray with a creamy white underside. They have prominent parotoid glands that secrete a potent toxin. They live in the southwestern U.S.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Contributed Photo: A Colorado River Toad, sometimes called the Sonoran Toad, possesses psychoactive toxins that are claimed to soothe a restless mind.
Column By Mike Bibb
Admittedly, I don't normally give much thought to toads or frogs or similar elusive creatures that usually only publicly appear during our rainy season - until I don't hear them croaking after a particularly drenching downpour.

Maybe the soil in my neighborhood isn't conducive to attracting the little creatures. For some reason, the last couple of monsoons hasn't produced the throaty chorus of the nocturnal amphibians. Instead, a noticeable silence exists, occasionally interrupted by the annoying buzzing of a mosquito.

Being a frequent visitor to Mexico, I often come across news stories not normally found in stateside publications. It's not that they aren't available, rather a little research is often required to uncover them. Certainly, the New York Times, CNN and other popular media outlets do not usually report upon the life and times of a southwestern toad, unless its struggles can somehow be associated with the climate change incantation.

In Mexico, however, the Colorado River Toad, also known as the Sonoran Desert Toad, is held in higher esteem. Actually, there's an annual festival celebrating the animal's unique mind-altering qualities that are believed to be capable of soothing a restless disposition.

During the monsoon months, aficionados of the toad travel from all over the world to the little community of Punta Chueca, about 90 miles west of Hermosillo, in the state of Sonora. A narrow road heading several kilometers north of the tourist village of Bahia Kino, on the coast of the Sea of Cortez, ends in Punta Chueca.

In a country renowned for another relaxing elixir (in moderation), Tequila, the toad's chemical properties are claimed to work in reverse. Instead of producing an aggravated mental condition from consuming too much agave prepared alcohol, the toad's defensive glands discharge a sort of psychedelic toxin and when dried, mixed with tobacco and smoked, triggers a mind-altering experience.

An article in a recent edition of Milenio (Millennium), a Mexican newspaper, reports the toads are not harmed during the chemical extraction procedure. Similar to "milking" a rattlesnake to create an anti-venom.

According to Octavio Rettig Hinojosa, a shaman known as El Profeta del Sapo (The Prophet of the Toad) the toad's gland secretions are "An anti-hallucinogen, it's something that will remove the madness from your mind, everything that removes you from the here and now, everything that is not real," he insists. "The Bufo alvarius (toad) lives buried in the ground for 10 months a year and in the rainy season it comes to the surface to reproduce, eat and share this ancestral medicine with us."

Various celebrities, including heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson, no stranger to drugs and alcohol, is a fan of the toad's purported magic. Tyson credited the toad's psychoactive chemicals as weaning him off other controlled substances and motivated him to make a boxing comeback last year.

Unfortunately for Iron Mike, his bout against Roy Jones in November 2020, ended in a draw. Neither aging fighter could score sufficient points to win the match. Perhaps the toad's mythical abilities aren't extended to contestants in the boxing world. Or, maybe the fight was "not real."

Could it be a cure for COVID-19, at least the anxiety caused by it? To think, I had no idea toads and frogs were much good for anything other than consuming insects or tasting like chicken when cooked.

Incidentally, for those wishing to sample the savory flavor of the diminutive critters, I noticed uncooked frog/toad legs are currently available in the meat department of Safeway, next to the crayfish. Hurry, supplies are limited.

Anyway, after reading the article and realizing American's fascination with mind-altering plants and chemicals, and Graham County's sojourn into the marijuana agricultural business, I got to wondering if it might be possible to incorporate a toad growing operation within a few of the vacant NatureSweet tomato greenhouses in Bonita.

Seems a perfect match. The greenhouses are already plumbed to dispense water, creating a moist, warm environment, conducive to a toad's lifestyle. Possibly, they could remain above ground year-a-around, producing the "ancestral medicine" necessary to enhance a successful psychedelic trip. There wouldn't be much maintenance in keeping the slimy hoppers happy - a few bugs to eat and a girl/boyfriend or other romantic interests. And, of course, a skilled milking technician.

Not certain if the required 10-foot-high razor-wire fence, monitored with numerous cameras and alarms, would be necessary for the security of the toads. I haven't read or heard of protection procedures to be taken when growing toads for commercial purposes. They might actually be a high-value commodity, requiring greater than normal safeguards. Including preventing aerial invasions by hawks and crows.

All sorts of federal, state and county departments of government could eventually become involved, including the Interior Department, BLM, Departments of Health and Amphibian Resources, Bureau of Indian Affairs (if the toads are determined to be sacred), Federal Aviation Administration to maintain oversight of high-flying birds and other phenomena, Border Patrol and Customs to make sure any escaping toad is fully masked and vaxxed, and local county sheriffs would be essential in apprehending toads determined to be a threat to the safety and well-being of the community.

In essence, a combination marijuana/toad facility could substantially increase the overall employment opportunities of the area by adding another industry to further diversify the county's established cotton, mining, and prison enterprises.

The toad's brain warping byproduct, when added to the harvested "recreational" marijuana fruit, would instantly generate an entirely new item for the medicinal drug enthusiast. NatureSweet, or its successor, Bayacan, might consider calling the product "Reefer Madness with a twist of Bufo alvarius. Guaranteed to calm whatever's ailing or blow your mind."

It'd be a winner, for sure. I can imagine tax revenues rapidly filling the county's coffers. The Board of Supervisors would have plenty of money to fight legal challenges. Melancholy teens would no longer resort to shooting spray paint up their nostrils to achieve a buzz.

The Chamber of Commerce would be compelled to update its automated sign outside its Thatcher Boulevard office to read "Welcome to Graham County - Arizona's official home of Climate, Cotton, Cattle, Copper & Contented Toads."

At last, a real Utopian Gila Valley dreamland - nestled along the burned-out banks of the Gila River and only a few toad-tokes away from total bliss.

Ribbit! Ribbit!
The opinion expressed in this editorial is that of the author.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Editorial: Toads and tripping - The Gila Herald

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Contributed Photo: A Colorado River Toad, sometimes called the Sonoran Toad, possesses psychoactive toxins that are claimed to soothe a restless mind. Column By Mike Bibb Admittedly, I don't normally give much thought to toads or frogs or similar elusive creatures that usually only publicly appear during our rainy season - until I don't hear them croaking after a particularly drenching downpour.