Kissing toads has proven to be just a little too tempting.
Last week, the National Park Service posted on Facebook to ask visitors not to lick the Sonoran desert toads. These toads are also known as “psychedelic toads,” for the hallucinogenic effects the toxins can have.
The post from the National Park Service warned visitors that the toxins can make you sick, especially if they get in your mouth. According to the Oakland Zoo, the toxins are potent enough to paralyze or sometimes even kill dogs.
“As we say with most things you come across in a national park, whether it be a banana slug, unfamiliar mushroom, or a large toad with glowing eyes in the dead of night, please refrain from licking,” the post reads, accompanied with a night-vision photo of a toad.
Sonoran desert toads are typically found in southwestern regions of the United States and northwestern regions of Mexico. In the U.St., the toads reside in southeastern California, Arizona and New Mexico, per The New York Times.
In recent years, the secretions from Sonoran desert toads have been in high demand, reports The New York Times. Users gave the secretions the name “God molecule” for the psychedelic effects some compare to a spiritual experience.
The Sonoran desert toad secretes a toxin that cannot be found anywhere else, and its secretions are a Schedule I drug in the United States, which means they are illegal, reports CBS News.
People are willing to pay big money to experience what the toxins apparently offer. Typically, people don’t lick the toads — instead they obtain the toxin, dry it into crystals and smoke it from a pipe. It is a practice that goes back decades, according to an article in the New York Times Magazine.
In recent years, the practice has gained major traction. According to The New York Times, people are willing to pay anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars for the psychedelic experience, which is often treated as a ceremony and lasts for an intense 15 to 30 minutes.