August 18, 2025Aug 18 Dear Folks, I think it must be all the rain we have had. The weather is very strange this year. Anyway, while venturing out my door, I espied this THING…whatever it is. It’s very ugly, even uglier than a frog. But, when you touch it with a stick, it whimpers and cries just like a human baby. Do you think it might be dangerous? For example, when I was young, I once read that there are things that look like this which can eject a well-targeted stream of poison into the eyes of what it might perceive to be a predator. I do not mean it any harm, of course. I just mean that I worry it might actually do harm to ME. So, what should I do, if anything? And, also, I cannot find it now, since it seems to be an expert in hiding in plain sight. Can it somehow change its colorations to blend in with the ground cover? What might happen if I stepped on it, at night, barefooted? One shudders at even the thought. Also, I could have captured much clearer images of this organism, except that I was not wearing my 3M safety goggles. So, I did not want to get too close, understandably. What should I do? What CAN I do, even? Thanking you. Regards, Gamma Note: Just touching it very lightly with a stick causes this thing to moan loudly. I have had experience, previously, when I touch some organism with my stick, causing it to moan loudly, but this is not the same. This moaning sound gives me the willies, in fact.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 It is called a toad. Some of them have poison in their skin. It is to deter other animals from eating them but could be nasty for a person.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said: Dear Folks, I think it must be all the rain we have had. The weather is very strange this year. Anyway, while venturing out my door, I espied this THING…whatever it is. It’s very ugly, even uglier than a frog. But, when you touch it with a stick, it whimpers and cries just like a human baby. Do you think it might be dangerous? For example, when I was young, I once read that there are things that look like this which can eject a well-targeted stream of poison into the eyes of what it might perceive to be a predator. I do not mean it any harm, of course. I just mean that I worry it might actually do harm to ME. So, what should I do, if anything? And, also, I cannot find it now, since it seems to be an expert in hiding in plain sight. Can it somehow change its colorations to blend in with the ground cover? What might happen if I stepped on it, at night, barefooted? One shudders at even the thought. Also, I could have captured much clearer images of this organism, except that I was not wearing my 3M safety goggles. So, I did not want to get too close, understandably. What should I do? What CAN I do, even? Thanking you. Regards, Gamma Note: Just touching it very lightly with a stick causes this thing to moan loudly. I have had experience, previously, when I touch some organism with my stick, causing it to moan loudly, but this is not the same. This moaning sound gives me the willies, in fact. Looks like an Asian Painted Frog
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Author 21 minutes ago, fredwiggy said: Looks like an Asian Painted Frog So then... What is the Evolutionary Advantage, for this thing, of moaning, whimpering, and even crying like a girl, when I get close. Such an eerie and unanticipated sound, that I was completely taken aback. I don't like the looks of it, and the sounds it makes are even worse....!!!
August 18, 2025Aug 18 12 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said: So then... What is the Evolutionary Advantage, for this thing, of moaning, whimpering, and even crying like a girl, when I get close. Such an eerie and unanticipated sound, that I was completely taken aback. I don't like the looks of it, and the sounds it makes are even worse....!!! Most animals have a defense mechanism to deflect, scare or fool predators. They eat countless insects every day, just like spiders, so they have a purpose even if they look or sound strange to us.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Author 6 minutes ago, fredwiggy said: Most animals have a defense mechanism to deflect, scare or fool predators. They eat countless insects every day, just like spiders, so they have a purpose even if they look or sound strange to us. If he eats his weight in mosquitoes each week, then he is most welcome here. Also, speaking of defense mechanisms, he seems to be able to inflate his body size, by a factor of 2, meaning volume, at will. Actually, quite a beautiful creature.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 1 minute ago, GammaGlobulin said: If he eats his weight in mosquitoes each week, then he is most welcome here. Also, speaking of defense mechanisms, he seems to be able to inflate his body size, by a factor of 2, meaning volume, at will. Actually, quite a beautiful creature. Like a puffer fish, who expands to increase size and the size of their spines. Some make noises, use camouflage, spit or have a nasty smell or taste.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Author 16 minutes ago, fredwiggy said: Like a puffer fish, who expands to increase size and the size of their spines. Some make noises, use camouflage, spit or have a nasty smell or taste. This thing looks like a giant tick.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Whatever you do, don't lick that frog/toad. No matter what that cute influencer tells you.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Author 1 minute ago, impulse said: Whatever you do, don't lick that frog/toad. No matter what that cute influencer tells you. I will only observe behavior of this thing. And report.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Not a toad, a banded bullfrog. Toads have lumpy , poisonous glands on their backs. I see plenty of both Toads and bullfrogs like the one in your photo , on the paths and grass around my house, especially after the rain. https://www.thainationalparks.com/species/kaloula-pulchra
August 18, 2025Aug 18 4 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said: I will only observe behavior of this thing. And report. The US National Park Service even had to post a warning not to lick the cane toads. I wonder if that has reduced or increased the number of people licking them to get high. (And it's not just cane toads. Sonoran Desert toads and others, too)
August 18, 2025Aug 18 11 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said: What is the Evolutionary Advantage, for this thing, of moaning, whimpering, and even crying like a girl, when I get close. prevented you from touching it, didn't it?
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Author 17 minutes ago, phetphet said: Not a toad, a banded bullfrog. Toads have lumpy , poisonous glands on their backs. I see plenty of both Toads and bullfrogs like the one in your photo , on the paths and grass around my house, especially after the rain. https://www.thainationalparks.com/species/kaloula-pulchra Apparently, they also fly jets to Australia, when on holiday. This weather we have been having seems to have had all sorts of strange effects on various organisms. For example, gazing out my window, at the moment, I can see the shell of a Hermit Crab moving on my lawn. And, normally, I see these things only in ocean water. Now they are invading the residential areas of CM? Maybe it was carried here by a bird, or perhaps escaped a fish tank nearby....
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Author 12 minutes ago, save the frogs said: prevented you from touching it, didn't it? Only touched it with my stick. I don't use my stick, much these days, for anything else. Therefore, in this case, my stick has become a sacrificial limb. It is beautiful, though, I must admit.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Perhaps you should come out from under your coconut shell. How long have you lived here?
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Asian Painted Frog – blunt head, fat round body, broad cream bands on both sides ??? Thailand's Snakes, Lizards, Turtles, and Frogs https://bangkokherps.wordpress.com/frogs/
August 18, 2025Aug 18 4 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said: So then... What is the Evolutionary Advantage, for this thing, of moaning, whimpering, and even crying like a girl, when I get close. Such an eerie and unanticipated sound, that I was completely taken aback. I don't like the looks of it, and the sounds it makes are even worse....!!! Perhaps it learned this behavior in a previous human incarnation,
August 18, 2025Aug 18 Author 1 hour ago, connda said: What looks like FROG? Cries like human baby? Dangerous? Donald Trump? Everybody seems to love him so. Why? IDK. Nobody around here can stop talking about him.
August 18, 2025Aug 18 2 hours ago, connda said: What looks like FROG? Cries like human baby? Dangerous? Donald Trump?
August 19, 2025Aug 19 Look at that animal's skin markings and see if you can spot lottery numbers! For months I used to grab frogs/toads in my garden and write numbers on their skin using a black indelible marker. My mad ex and her Thai family would then spend hours in the pouring rain searching for these 'lucky' frogs, while I sat inside in the dry with a cold beer!! 🙂. They never realised that it was me.......
August 19, 2025Aug 19 Author 3 hours ago, simon43 said: Look at that animal's skin markings and see if you can spot lottery numbers! For months I used to grab frogs/toads in my garden and write numbers on their skin using a black indelible marker. My mad ex and her Thai family would then spend hours in the pouring rain searching for these 'lucky' frogs, while I sat inside in the dry with a cold beer!! 🙂. They never realised that it was me....... Such animal cruelty... AND, I do NOT mean the amphibian animals in your tale. Are you sure you belong in SE Asia?
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