In this corner of the Sierra foothills immortalized by Mark Twain's "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," four toads named Hanz, Franz, Peter and Brian are being held as evidence in a narcotics case.
The wart-covered quartet, specifically Colorado River toads or Bufo alvarius, began stealing the limelight from their larger, greener cousins on Jan. 3, when Bob Shepard, 41, a teacher at a local nature center, was arrested for possession of bufotenine, an illegal hallucinogenic chemical found in toad venom.While Shepard has also been charged with possession of a handful of other hallucinogenic substances, including mescal cactus, psychedelic mushrooms and LSD, it is the toad venom, which Shepard told investigators he had dried and smoked, that has drawn attention in an otherwise routine drug bust.
"We'd heard of people licking toads to try to get high," said Greg Elam, a local narcotics agent. "But we had never heard of this. When we started asking around, we found out that nobody is in the know."
Elam said Shepard was the first person ever arrested for possession of venom from psychedelic toads, which is classified by the federal government as a Schedule 1 hallucinogenic, like LSD and mescaline.
To learn more about the drug, investigators have been milking and drying venom from the four toads, which agents found in a classroom at the public school-sponsored camp where Shepard taught nature and wildlife until his arrest.
Investigators describe Shepard as friendly, intelligent and interested in helping others understand the powers of toad venom. He has even made an informational videotape for those who are prosecuting him, Elam said, and has helped guide their research.
He told agents about the camping trip to Arizona on which he caught the toads. He shared the procedure for milking venom from glands on the toads' legs and behind their eyes. And he related the effect of smoking the dried venom, which has the consistency of rubber cement.
Shepard told investigators that the difference between LSD and bufotenine was the difference between milk and whiskey, Elam said.
"You better be sitting down, or have a place to lie down, or this will put you down," Elam said of the venom, which has been known to kill dogs that try to eat the toads in their native Southwest habitats.
Shepard, who has not spoken to reporters since his arrest, is to be arraigned on March 1. In the meantime, while investigators search for a permanent home, Hanz, Franz, Peter and Brian endure their new lot in life.
The four captives pass their time awaiting trial eating wax worms and crickets in two glass terrariums in the headquarters of the Amador-Calaveras-Tuolumne Narcotics Enforcement Team, just across the street from the county fair grounds, where the annual jumping frog contest is held in honor of Mark Twain's short story.
Elam, who has taken a personal interest in caring for the toads, had developed some empathy for his wards.
"One day you're sitting by the river, the next you're a prisoner, being squeezed by a bunch of humans," he said. "And does you're opinion even count? No. You're just a toad."