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Florida Pet Owners Warned Of Invasive Toad: 'Highly Toxic'
Florida pet owners were warned on Tuesday by the Village of Tequesta that they should "be aware" of the cane or bufo toad ahead of rainy season.
In their posts on social media, the Village of Tequesta said, "As we approach rainy season the frogs will multiply. Be aware of the Cane Toad (Bufo), an invasive amphibian in FL. To learn how to identify, remove, & protect pets against Bufo's visit: https://tequesta.Org/1685/Dealing-with-Cane-Bufo-Toads... #CaneToads #PetSafety #FloridaWildlife #InvasiveSpecies."
The cane toad, or commonly known as the bufo or giant toad, is considered to be an invasive species in the Sunshine State, according to the Village's website. The toad's "highly toxic" secretions from their skin glands can be deadly to pets who bite or eat them, and even impact humans.
The toad is a reddish-brown color, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, with a lighter yellow underbelly. The toads are sometimes mistaken for the southern toad, a native amphibian, and can range in size from six to nine inches.
The Village of Tequesta posted the notice for residents "just to be aware," the city clerk's office told Newsweek via phone on Tuesday. The Clerk's office also noted that Florida, not just Tequesta, has been dealing with the invasive amphibian for decades. The toads "are specific to this time of year," the clerk's office also noted, while mentioning the rainy season of May through the summer months.
According to the FWC, cane toads are native to South and Central America and even into the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The cane toad is an omnivore and can even be tempted to eat pet food or human food if left out. The FWC also notes that the cane toad was "first introduced" to the state of Florida in the 1930s-40s to "control agricultural pests in sugar cane." The toad can currently be found in south and central Florida, the FWC says.
The FWC also links to a map of credible cane toad sightings for residents to reference on their website.
SYDNEY, NSW - AUGUST 09: A Cane Toad is exhibited at Taronga Zoo August 9, 2005 in Sydney Australia. Floridians were asked to be aware of the Cane Toad on Tuesday amid rainy season, by... SYDNEY, NSW - AUGUST 09: A Cane Toad is exhibited at Taronga Zoo August 9, 2005 in Sydney Australia. Floridians were asked to be aware of the Cane Toad on Tuesday amid rainy season, by the Village of Tequesta. More Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty ImagesMeanwhile, the Village of Tequesta also advised residents on what to do if your pet has an "encounter" with a cane toad, while also noting "immediate action is crucial." Below is a list provided by the Village on their website:
Newsweek has contacted FWC for additional comment on Tuesday via email.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Biden Expands San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, Adds Forest Rangers, Funding
President Joe Biden added nearly 106,000 acres to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument on Thursday, May 2, expanding the monument designated 10 years ago by President Barack Obama by nearly one-third, the White House reported.
Also, Biden approved a 13,696-acre expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in northern California, north of Sacramento. The two designations were signed at 11:45 a.M. E.T. By Biden at the White House through use of powers granted the executive branch. Together, they add protections from mining and new highways to nearly 120,000 acres of wild lands in the state.
The San Gabriel Mountains monument expansion adds 105,919 acres of Angeles National Forest land to the existing 346,179-acre SGM monument, protecting closer-in areas in the western Angeles, including historic Chantry Flat, the Arroyo Seco and forest lands near Sunland, Tujunga and Santa Clarita.
Map shows the expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (SCNG graphic) Along with the expansion of the SGM monument, Biden promised additional resources for the area known as "L.A.'s backyard playground," located within 90 minutes of 18 million Southern Californians.
The Angeles National Forest received nearly 4.6 million visitors in 2021, more annual visitors than Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks. Yet many areas remain closed due to fires, subsequent flooding and lack of funding to complete repairs. Due to overuse, the monument was placed on the no-go list by Fodor's Magazine for 2024.
Documents released by the White House mentioned long-standing problems from poor visitor experiences and abuse of natural lands, such as people leaving behind excessive amounts of trash, not enough bathrooms or trash cans, illegal parking that impedes emergency vehicle access and polluting of streams and rivers.
To address these problems, the White House announced funding for additional field rangers, interpretive rangers and visitor-engagement positions. Six new forest rangers will be hired using $2 million from the California Conservation Corps. Also, $2.3 million in federal Great American Outdoors Act funding will be invested in the monument to rehabilitate barracks and provide housing for recreation and other Angeles National Forest staff, according White House documents.
Los Angeles County is providing $1 million to the nonprofit Nature for All to fund six positions, with a possibility of 12 more in the future to help greet and direct visitors, the White House reported.
A long-planned but stalled improvement project along the heavily-used East Fork of the San Gabriel River will receive $2.5 million from the state Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. Known as the Cattle Canyon Project, construction of more parking, better river access and added amenities could start later this year, according to documents from the White House.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service that manages the monument and the Angeles, joined Biden as he signed the proclamations.
"The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is a crown jewel for Los Angeles. It is a backyard to millions of people, and is also home to cultural resources, rare animals and plants, unique geology, and dynamic forests, rivers and high peaks," said Vilsack. "President Biden's actions today ensure this remarkable place is protected for current and future generations."
Others were jubilant over the presidential designation, something that was expected to happen on Earth Day in April but was pushed back. This included Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, who was present when Obama signed the original designation in 2014 and has championed the expansion for the past 10 years.
Chu also was present in the Oval Office Thursday to witness the presidential action. Also there were: Vice President Kamala Harris; Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte; Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Pacoima; Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank; and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, as well as representatives of tribal groups, the Wilderness Society and Trust for Public Land.
"People were ecstatic," said Chu on Thursday after leaving the White House ceremony. "They were so thrilled this dream we had for so long will finally be implemented. And that our area was given the respect it deserves. It is long overdue. The San Gabriel Mountains were neglected for such a long time."
She said the expansion coupled with added dollars won't solve all the problems, but will kickstart a movement that will draw in the monument's governing group called the Collaborative, other groups and corporate donors.
"I was so elated to know there will be millions of dollars to come with it (expansion), to ensure the San Gabriel Mountains gets the resources it needs," Chu said.
The monument before the expansion included 342,177 acres of the Angeles National Forest and 4,002 acres of the neighboring San Bernardino National Forest. Part of the expansion includes efforts to improve safety around the San Antonio Canyon/Mt. Baldy areas at the the Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties dividing lines. The White House proposed improvements to public safety in this area that has experienced three deaths of hikers in the last 15 months due to treacherous trail conditions.
Biden's signed proclamation added to what Obama started by using the Antiquities Act of 1906, first used by President Theodore Roosevelt to designate Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Eighteen presidents of both parties have used this power to designate other national monuments, including the Statue of Liberty, Colorado's Canyon of the Ancients, and New Mexico's Gila Cliff Dwellings
The San Gabriel Mountains monument is renowned for scenic mountain peaks, dark canyons, a plethora of flora and fauna species, hiking trails, campsites, streams, reservoirs and sites of ancient relics from indigenous peoples. Expansion will include habitat used by the endangered California Condor and Southwestern Arroyo Toad.
"The San Gabriel Mountains are historically significant to our tribe, our people, and our culture," wrote Chief Anthony Morales of the Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians in an emailed response. "Protecting more of this important region helps protect our traditional plants and cultural resources."
The addition takes in more popular portions of the western Angeles National Forest left outside the boundaries by Obama.
The expansion includes areas north of Sylmar and east of the Newhall Pass, near Placerita Canyon in the Santa Clarita area. It includes the Upper Arroyo Seco, a historic tributary of the Los Angeles River with headwaters in the Angeles, that meanders through La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena and South Pasadena. Also, the addition includes the Big Tujunga Reservoir and Big Tujunga Canyon, Switzer's Camp, Echo Mountain, Millard Canyon and Eaton Canyon waterfall.
Another key addition is a closer-in area known as Chantry Flat, a popular hiking, picnicking and camping spot north of Arcadia and Sierra Madre that has attracted thousands of visitors on weekends but has been closed for several years due to damage from fires, rainstorms and a lack of resources from the U.S. Forest Service to make repairs.
The road leading to Chantry Flat is closed. This area was added to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (photo SCNG) .
Also included in the expansion is the site of Thaddeus Lowe's funicular, the Mount Lowe Railway, which from 1893 to 1938 took people on a roller-coaster of a ride high into the mountains above Pasadena. The monument protects giant wheels used to hoist the railway onto the tracks, left on the trail to rust near Echo Mountain for decades.
Mount Lowe Railway packed with passengers during this day in 1909. This was the first public mass transit system into the Angeles National Forest. The historic site up Echo Mountain still contains relics from the railway. The area is part of the expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument approved by President Biden on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (photo courtesy of the Mount Lowe Preservation Society Collection) Other historic trails that were created as part of the Great Hiking Era include the Gabrieliño Trail, which was once a trade route used by Native American tribes and was recently restored. The new areas also contain ancient Native American relics.
"Our local community is overjoyed to see this next step in a 20-year effort to permanently protect the San Gabriel Mountains," said Belén Bernal, executive director of Nature for All, a group lobbying for more resources and ingress to the monument. "The area included in the expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is the closest section of the National Forest to the San Fernando Valley," she added.
The expansion increases the total number of people within 5 miles of the monument by 90 percent, or about 757,000 more people who gain greater access to nature. Of those, more than 60 percent are nonwhite, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress.
"This expansion demonstrates a deep dedication to ensuring that all communities, particularly those who are underserved, have the equal resources to connect with nature in their neighborhoods," wrote Mark Magaña, GreenLatinos founding president and CEO.
Guillermo Rodriguez, vice president of the Pacific Region and California director for Trust for Public Land, said the expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains monument will stimulate not just public, but also private funds, too.
"Having that special designation allows for greater resources to be invested in these areas," Rodriguez said. "We have seen national monuments, like national parks, act as economic drivers. That increased attention and accessibility adds revenue to the local economy."
Could A Toad's Psychedelic Venom Be The Next Big Anti-depressant?
The Colorado River toad is known for its psychedelic properties, but could it be hiding a major medicinal secret? (Picture: Getty Images)A hallucinogenic toad's venom could be a new form of anti-depressant, scientists say.
The Colorado River toad, also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, has psychedelic venom just below the surface, which they secrete through their glands when it is scared.
And although it is well known that this toad's venom can cause intense hallucinations and trippy experiences, until now scientists have been unsure how exactly it influences the brain.
But a recent study has found that the toad's hallucinogenic compound could be the basis of a new antidepressant.
Researchers looked at a modified form a DMT compound and how it interacts with one of our happy hormones known as serotonin, but more a more obscure one known as the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor.
Research on psychedelics tend to focus on a similar serotonin receptor, 5-HT2A, as this is what's activated when we hallucinate.
Psilocybin is a popular anti-depressant contender (Picture: Getty/Science Photo Libra)But structural pharmacologist Dr Daniel Wacker, from the Icahn School of Medicine, and his team wanted to look further at the 5-HT1A receptors.
The team chemically tweaked the toad venom to target solely the 5-HT1A serotonin receptors and tested it against mice who had signs of stress and depression.
They found that the toad venom compound had a similar antidepressant and anti-anxiety effect in the mice – but the mice did not get high or hallucinate.
The mice who had the compound drank more tasty sugar water and spent more time with their peers, which are signs of lowered anxiety and depression.
'Frankly, that's what we hope to see,' Audrey Warren at Mount Sinai Hospital told New Scientist.
'It's our hope that down the line, someone could use the findings of our study to help design novel antidepressants for humans, but that's certainly a long way out.'
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Read More StoriesHowever, the researchers say that further studies are needed to see if this compound could have a similar effect in humans.
And it does seem more likely that other well-known psychedelics may be approved as mental health aids sooner than any treatments derived from the toad venom.
Psychedelics have been in the spotlight for anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medicine. Magic Mushrooms, or psilocybin, has led the research as scientists say that it could help in some of the hardest-to-treat cases.
The study is published in Nature.
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