A Tampa woman whose dog collapsed and died after she saw him with a toad in his mouth this week told a TV station that she knew immediately it was a poisonous Bufo toad.
Also known as the cane or marine toad, the world's largest toad has invaded South Florida since the 1950s and in recent years has been spotted more frequently in Central Florida as well.
Last summer, Fox 13 News reported that one of the toads was spotted in a Maitland neighborhood. In some South Florida neighborhoods, they've been spotted by the thousands.
In this week's incident, Brynn Kelly of Tampa said she flushed her dog Otis' mouth out with water after he began seizing and foaming at the mouth, but it was too late, ABC Action News reported.
Bufo toads secrete poison from glands on their heads. The toxin can kill pets.
Experts advise that if a pet bites a toad, to rinse the pet's mouth with a hose so water drains out and isn't swallowed, and to rub the animal's gums and mouth to try to remove the toxin.
The Bufo marinus toad is sometimes mistaken for the native and nonpoisonous Bufo terrestris, or Southern toad, according to the University of Florida's Florida Wildlife Extension.
The safe Southern toad has crests over its eyes that look like eyebrow ridges, and small oval glands behind these crests. The dangerous cane toad lacks these crests, and the glands on its head are long and triangular shaped, UF Wildlife says.
Cane toads are also larger, 4 to 6 inches, while Southern toads are 1 } to 4 { inches.
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