The young crapaud on the left - a cane toad, bufo marinus, is now on the cane toad page of the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area.
It was a chance meeting as I hiked San Fernando Hill a few months ago, where our diminutive friend was not doing very well with the art of not being seen. He wasn't very talkative and seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, so I gave him my number so that he could call me at his convenience.
When asked to comment on his new found celebrity, he mentioned something about 'smoking someone's pipe', or something along those lines.
On another less humorous note, the Cane toad is really a pest where it has been introduced, especially since it can carry diseases that affect the ecology of areas - and also because they pose problems for creatures that try to eat them but are affected by the toxins.
Indeed, the crapaud has been known to smoke many a dog's pipe.
Commercial rights to use the photos still belongs to me - but they are available for non-commercial use once the Creative Commons license is honored.
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