Big Bad Bufo- close call

Hey all! Well, when it rains it pours. Recently, I have found a Gopher Tortoise, two large softshell turtles (on land!) and today a great big Bufo Marinus. This is in South Florida, so the toad is invasive, but it was a big 'un and I thought I'd share a word of warning as well. Be careful with your pets!!! I found this toad as I was out walking the dog. The dog startled, and started chasing the toad before I even knew what it was. Before I knew it he had snatched a taste of it in his mouth- bad news! Thankfully, the worst my dog suffered was some slight drooling. I'm keeping a close eye on him tonight and he'll be sleeping in the bed with me. So to all of you in toad areas- be careful!
As for the toad, I drove to a nearby park to release him. I found it interesting though that on wikipedia, it indicated that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission suggests euthanizing them when you find them! Well, upon more research, its not FWC that says anything about it; its actually Florida University's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences that explains how to do it, but I don't really ever see it recommending outright to kill the little guys. I mean, I get it, I've studied ecology, invasive species = bad, but I don't know that you ought to kill them outright. Just made me pause to think.

A lot of invasive species are kill-on-sight. This mostly pertains to fish (snakeheads and round goby come to mind), but any species that's particularly invasive, like Marine toads, it may be recommended. You should at least report your find to FWC.

see, I couldn't do that. I know all about invasive species too, but I couldn't kill a big beauty like that if the FWC sat on my head.

I would be reminded that humans, too, are an invasive species in Florida, and I don't think I could kill a Floridian on sight, either...

but then, I'm a bleedin' heart.

I couldn't either. I'm such a softy. Regardless, there are people out there that can humanely euthanize them, and they should be notified of the toads' whereabouts.

Yeah, that is a tough one. I think I would probably take it to a local zoo or nature center so that they can educate people about and also allow it to live regardless of its "improper" birth location. It helps having a living specimen to see what exactly people are talking about when they tell you to be on the look out for things.

He is huge! Glad your dog is ok!