第 1340 號，共 1 402 號

American toad

Anaxyrus americanus

無害對人無害。不用擔心。

皮膚裡有毒吃：昆蟲有毒（碰或吃會中毒），不是有毒液

The American toad is a common toad found across the eastern half of Canada and the United States. It lives in forests, grasslands and gardens, and it breeds in shallow ponds and pools. It matters because it eats many insects and other small creatures, and its skin releases a substance that can irritate eyes and harm small animals such as dogs.1

有毒還是有毒液？有毒液的動物會用咬或螫把毒液注入身體。有毒的動物則是碰到或吃下去會有害。這種動物是有毒的（碰或吃會中毒）。

分布在

Eastern half of Canada and the United States1

北美洲

首頁

American toads need a semi-permanent freshwater pond or pool with shallow water for breeding, and dense patches of vegetation for cover and hunting. They can live almost anywhere with these features, from forests to flat grassland. They often shelter in burrows, under boards, flat stones, logs, woodpiles and window wells.1

長度

5 cm 到 11 cm (2 in 到 4,4 in)1

最高速度

大約 2 km/h（1,2 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

American toads eat crickets, mealworms, earthworms, ants, spiders, slugs, centipedes, moths and other small invertebrates. They are most active at night, and become active during the day after rain.1

American toad 的照片 — American toad。照片：unknown。 CC0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Adults are usually 5 to 9 cm long.1
Skin colour varies from yellow to brown to black, and can be solid or speckled. It changes with habitat colours, humidity, stress and temperature.1
Spots on the back contain only one or two warts, and the lower legs have enlarged warts.1
The parotoid glands are the same colour as the surrounding skin.1
Breeding males give a high trill lasting 6 to 30 seconds that sounds like a ringing telephone.1

常被誤認為： Fowler's toad, Woodhouse's toad, the Canadian toad, the southern toad and the Gulf Coast toad can look similar. Fowler's toad never has a spotted belly, and its cranial crests touch the parotoid glands. The American toad's crests almost never touch the glands. The Canadian toad's crests join to form a raised bump, which the American toad's do not. The southern toad's crests form two distinct knobs.1

毒素力量

皮膚裡有毒

牠的皮膚有毒。碰、舔或吃牠都很危險。

牠的毒素有什麼作用？

The American toad does not inject venom. Its parotoid glands secrete bufotoxin, a poisonous substance that makes the toad unpalatable to predators. It is a mild poison compared with other poisonous toads and frogs, but it can irritate human eyes and mucous membranes and is dangerous to smaller animals such as dogs when swallowed.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 輕微跟蜜蜂螫差不多或更輕微。對人基本上無害。

Bufotoxin is a mild poison. It can irritate human eyes and mucous membranes, and it is dangerous to smaller animals, such as dogs, if they swallow it.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When threatened, the toad releases bufotoxin from its parotoid glands, which makes it unpleasant to eat.1

如果有人碰了或吃了牠

如果有人碰了牠：把手徹底洗乾淨，不要碰眼睛或嘴巴。如果小孩或寵物舔了或吃了牠：打給毒物諮詢中心或打緊急電話。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果你碰了或吃了牠：不要揉眼睛或摸嘴巴，把手洗乾淨，並且就醫。

牠不是想來抓你。牠的毒只是為了不讓別的動物吃掉牠。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 3 塊玩具積木排成一排一樣長可以在 180 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類需要 9.6 秒）

American toad 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

American toad 大約 2 km/h (1,2 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Some American toads have lived for over 30 years, and one female was reported to be living healthily into her late 30s.1

Toads avoid mating with their siblings. Males' calls seem to help females recognise their close relatives.1

Toad tadpoles produce toxic chemicals in their skin that discourage some predators. Most fish learn quickly to avoid eating them.1

Their skin colour can change with their surroundings, humidity, stress and temperature.1

Tadpoles swim in very shallow water, often among thick grass, and gather in schools during the day to reduce predation.1

Toadlets often leave the water together in large groups and migrate to shaded forest areas near where they were bred.1

給毒液專家

學名: Anaxyrus americanus
類群: 箭毒蛙、蟾蜍和蠑螈
家人: Bufonidae2
排序: Anura
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: Females lay two long ropes containing 2,000 to 20,000 small black eggs, each 1 to 2 mm across, surrounded by jelly. The eggs hatch into tadpoles in 3 to 12 days.1
壽命: 大約 30 年1
對人的危險: 1 / 5: 輕微3