Coyote Peterson Finds a Beautiful Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog on a Return Trip to Costa Rica

On a return trip to Costa Rica, adventure host Coyote Peterson of Brave Wilderness was thrilled to discover that the backyard of the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center where he was staying was also home to the strawberry poison-dart frog. This frog is extremely toxic due to its primary diet of specific insects, but is not harmful to humans by touch.

Right now as we know, most poisonous frogs have bright coloration and that’s called aposematic coloration, which is a warning to any potential predator that I am toxic and if you eat me it’s gonna be a really bad day. You may be wondering to yourself, Coyote are you in any danger holding this specific frog? No, the toxins on the skin from this amphibian are not going to do anything negative to me unless I were to lick or kiss the frog. However when i’m done handling it, just to be safe, I’m gonna head into the kitchen and wash off my hands with soap and water.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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