Desert Dangers: Sonoran Desert Toad

The Sonoran Desert Toad is also known as the Colorado River Toad. Because we're located in the Sonoran Desert, I will refer to it as such :)  This toxic toad doesn't get the same amount of attention as the rattlesnakes we have.  They can both easily kill an animal, but snakes always instill much more fear into us humans :)  For starters, the Sonoran Desert Toad lives primarily in central and southern Arizona and extend south into Mexico. They creep into parts of southern California and New Mexico, but the areas are very limited.  The toads are active May-September but primarily during monsoon season, and are mostly nocturnal

Now if you see a toad during monsoon, don't automatically assume it's a toxic Sonoran Desert Toad.  We have a handful of toads in southern Arizona and it's important to learn the distinguishing characteristics of toxic toads.  Just because they are toxic doesn't mean you should go running in the opposite direction, you can safely get close enough to decide if it is a toxic toad.  Sonoran Desert toads are NOT slimy - their toxins are merely secreted through glands on their body when they are threatened.  The distinguishing characteristics of Sonoran Desert Toads are: 1) Large prominent parotoid glands behind each eye and 2) a white wart at the corner of the mouth.  Often, you can even see more parotoid glands on their back legs.  The parotoid glands are what secrete the toxins.  If you do a google search for Sonoran Desert Toads, you can become familiar with what the parotoid glands and white warts look like.  The actual colors of the toad's skin can vary greatly, so color and skin smoothness are not a great determining factor.

Because our dogs and cats are curious creatures, they often bat at or mouth a toad trying to play with it.  The toxins are strong enough to kill a dog but if you act quickly you can save your dog's life!  (I'm focusing this on dog's since they are usually more mouthy than cats).  If your dog encounters a toad and licks it or picks it up in their mouth, the best thing you can do is get your dog to the hose and gently spray/rinse their mouth out from the SIDE of the mouth - not directly into the mouth.  The hose does not need to be at fire-hose pressure, so there's no need to turn it on all the way.  Make sure their head is tilted down or to the side so water can drain.  They will foam at the mouth and heavily salivate as a reaction to the toxins, so do not panic but continue to rinse their mouth with a steady flow of water, allowing it to drain out of their mouth.  Continually rinse the mouth out for at least 10 minutes.  You also want to rinse away any foam or excess saliva from their gums during the rinsing process.  After this (or during, if someone else is around) call your vet and if they're not available call your local emergency vet.  They will be able to further instruct you if they feel your dog should still come in for monitoring.  Sometimes during these toxicities, your dog's temperature can sky rocket upwards of 105*F so it's always good to call a vet no matter what.

Similar to rattlesnake avoidance training, there is also toad avoidance training for those extra curious pooches.  Call around for trainers or ask your veterinarian who they recommend.  Most important of all, stay calm cool and collected if your dog encounters one :)

For more reading visit these links:

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center

Reptiles and Amphibians of Arizona

Wikipedia

Catios, and Why They're Awesome!

8 months ago we didn't have any furry kids of the feline persuasion and now we have 3!  Right before Christmas we adopted a Mom cat and her juvenile son.  Mom had a few liters of kittens before a friend of mine took her in and got her spayed and adopted the last liter out.  Once the kittens all found homes at a proper age (I think she waited 8-10 weeks), I adopted Mom and her son and renamed them Nova and Naveen (both have meaning's of "New" in different languages).  They live in our garage and I was determined to build them a safe and fun catio where they could go outside, move about, but still be completely enclosed.  I'm a determined woman and I'm still amazed that I built the whole thing by myself - the frame is 4 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 7 and a half feet tall.  I'm only 5'0" so moving this thing around as I built it on the driveway was quite a feat! My husband helped me move it into place outside of a window, and planning is essential because I knew the overhang of the garage was 8 feet high, so I only allowed 6" of vertical clearance to move it.  I have since done a few upgrades since I installed it a few months ago - I originally wrapped it in chicken wire but decided to take the majority of it down and wrap it with a stronger wire though it has larger gaps.  I also just finished installing a landing pad and a ramp up to the window.  Originally they were jumping in/out through the window down to a camping chair but Nova has been very sore lately after having an altercation with a friend's dog so I wanted to make it as easy as possible for her.

When I first put the catio in place, I salvaged an old branch from the yard and put it about 12" into the ground and then drilled the very top portion of it to the frame, allowing for a more outdoorsy feel.  I added 2 shelves at different heights, which they love to lay on and fall asleep while bird watching.  The camping chairs have been great for giving them a 'hammock' type bed to sleep in, and they do most of their napping in the chairs.  There are 2 bird feeders just a few feet away and now that we have free ranging chickens, the chickens actually enjoy sitting right next to the catio and both birds and cats take naps just a few inches away from each other.  The door is about 6' tall and I put a gate latch on there if I ever wanted it locked, but I don't really see the need for that.  I go in there quite often and sometimes in the evening I'll go in there and sit with them while the sun goes down :)  The location is rather perfect as they never get any direct sunlight - the catio is on the west side of the garage so there's no morning sun, and it also sits below a thick oak tree which strongly filters any afternoon sun.

(Click picture to enlarge)

I also have a coffee can out there for a constant access to water - it gets changed daily so there's no chance of harboring mosquitos.  I recently put up a chicken swing from one of the oak branches - chickens supposedly like to swing and I'm hoping they'll start using it soon.  They really love to sit next to the catio for some reason.  The cat's don't care very much, sometimes Naveen will look at them wide-eyed but he's a lover not a hunter ;)  I have also started growing oat grass with bulkseed I buy online, and then plant it in my own containers.  Once the grass is long enough, I bring a container into the catio for them to snack on - they love it!

If you don't have the ability to build your own, there are pre-made ones you can purchase online for hefty prices, or maybe hire someone to build one for you?  There are so many benefits to catios - some people even move the litter boxes out there so there's no indoor smell!  You can install a cat door in the wall, a cat door through a window or configure something else through the window.  Because ours is next to the garage which we don't really use, all I did was cut a square large enough in the window screen.  We haven't had any strange critters in there, and if I ever need that screen again, they're pretty easy to re-screen.  Read some more benefits about catios here and I hope you consider one for your indoor kitties!