Circle of Fear | Legion of Demons | 1973

Toad - Gouache & Watercolour

some amphibian valentines! feel free ot use them :D

(day 464)

during a trip to Arizona last year I encountered an intriguing mystery...

On the left is a big, toxic darkling beetle in the genus Eleodes. Abundant in the southwest, their quinone-based defensive secretions protect them from most predators (just smelling one made my sinuses burn painfully).

On the right is some sort of large animal droppings containing many Eleodes shells. I couldn’t imagine what sort of animal would eat them and produce such large droppings. I theorized that it was a pellet coughed up by a large bird like an owl or roadrunner, but couldn’t find any info to suggest anything like that is resistant to the beetle toxins.

I still had no idea what was behind these droppings for many months after the trip, but I finally realized the culprit, a beast that I had been lucky enough to encounter while I was there:

It was the the Sonoran desert toad, Incilius alvarius. One of the world’s largest toads, it is apparently immune to the secretions of the darkling beetles in its desert habitat and eats them as a large portion of its diet.

It’s also the toad species known for the powerful psychedelic properties of its skin secretions (though contrary to popular belief, licking the toad is ineffective and extremely dangerous. Consuming the raw toad toxin can easily kill you.) Furthermore, there’s anecdotal evidence that the toads actually require darkling beetles to manufacture their toxin, which makes sense as smaller american toads have been reported to require similarly toxic carabid beetles for the same reason.

TL;DR I found some weird poop with beetles in it and was too dumb to realize until later that it came from the giant drug toads

We all know it’s risky to let your cats outdoors. But I don’t think anyone expected one of the risks to be that an extremely fat toad might eat all their food then sit in their water bowl. This native Cururu toad [Rhinella jimi] was found on the porch of photographer Helder da Rocha in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. These toads are very common in their range, and are frequently found near human settlements. Pet owners should keep their animals away from these toads, as they possess potent toxins which can cause serious harm or even death when consumed. 

can you draw a frog with a block of cheese :]

day 610

This toad came right over to me and blessed me with a chirp and a song. ✨🤎

Mini frog and snail pen pal stickers will be in my shop update later in March! These guys are best friends that write to each other everyday!

the best home / credit

Mystical Woodland Animal Art Prints by RivuletPaperShop

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finished toadbert's halloween costume

little wizard

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Consider this:

toadbert the wizard

comic about toad!!