Growing up I was a very active child and I always remember my parents saying, "Keep playing with frogs and your going to get warts!" I wonder if they actually believed it, knew its was false or just said it because they grew up hearing that superstition as well. Growing up I always believed what my parents said so I was the kid on the play ground telling other kids not to play with frogs. The superstition is a very common one and I am sure most people have heard of it. Research I did on the topic shows that this superstition has been around for centuries but there has been no documented origin of its creation.What is it about frogs and toads that made us believe they caused warts when there is no truth in the belief at all? It is actually the fact that toads have actual warts on them which made many believe that they can transfer to humans! According to Dr. Lee Grismer, a herpetologist from La Sierra University, the warts on toads are an accumulation of mucus glands and poison glands that are in the skin. The only harm the toad could actually ever do is poison you and that is even very unlikely. When a toad becomes alarmed or feels threatened it can release a milky secretion through its glands. If an human ingests these toxins then it can cause intense pain, seizers, cardiac collapse or even death. But besides that a toad physically can not cause you to develop a wart.
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Your post was interesting. It is cool to know that you cannot really get warts from frogs or toads, and that the rumor started all because they have warts on them and people thought that they could spread to humans.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid i always played with frogs (as gross as they are to me now) and was always told they would give me warts. i had no clue that this started because they actually have warts on them! This was definately an interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing the same thing but used to pick them up all the time anyway. It's similar to the myth that if you kiss a frog he'll turn into a prince. It would make more sense for the wart myth to come after the prince charming myth so that kids wouldn't kiss frogs, but I sure the causing warts probably came first.
ReplyDeleteI was always afraid to play with frogs as a kid because I didn't want warts. Even though they don't cause warts, I will still most likely tell my kids to not pick them up because I'm sure frogs aren't the cleanest things for kids to be playing with.
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