Why Would Anyone Lick a Bufo Alvarius Toad?
If you have ever heard of the Psychedelic Toad or about people licking toads to get high, it is most likely they were talking about Bufo Alvarius. Also called the Sonoran Desert toad and the Colorado River toad, Bufo Alvarius is unique because of its venom. These large toads have glands that produce a milky white venom that is composed of as much as fifteen percent the alkaloid 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MEO-DMT). This is a powerful hallucinogen, the mind altering effects of which were discovered in the late 1950s. 5-MEO-DMT is the active ingredient of hallucinogens used traditionally by several South American tribes. The fact that a toad secretes a substance that can alter the human mind may lead to speculation about the “Frog Prince” fairy tale. In this folk legend, a woman finds a frog in the wild, kisses it, and it turns into a handsome prince. Could this ancient tale actually be based on fact? After all, if someone were to lick not a frog but the right kind of a toad, per
