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Today I read this article about a new DNR (department of natural resources) warning about releasing pets to the wild.  Many of us have heard the rumors of alligators living in the sewers because peoples pet alligators get too big and they flush them down the toilet.  Well this is just a myth as far as anyone has been able to research.  Besides that, if an alligator was too big to keep as a pet then how the heck would it fit down the toilet? However there have been alligators and crocodiles found in nature where they are not native, as far north in the U.S. as Minnesota.  You might think that an alligator or two would be not much of a big deal.  Well there are so many Burmese pythons have been let lose in Florida that there is now a breeding population as well as breeding populations of iguanas.  These non-native animals can cause many many problems.  Such as competing with native species for food and land.  Iguanas have also been known to cause power outages in some areas of Florida because they climb utility poles and can then short out power lines.  This is very bad for the public and I dought the iguana enjoys getting fried.

Well on with what I read today.  During recent studies in the Florida everglades by national geographics and other associates, scientist have come across a species of toad that has never been recorded before.  But now the interesting part.  It was first thought that this toad had just never been recorded before.  Several specimens have been collected from the wild for studies. However there is a bit of an uproar in the animal kingdom.  While many scientist that have studied this toad believe it to just be a toad that was not seen or recorded before, there are other scientist that claim this toad is due to crossbreeding.

Nobody thought this could happen with a toad like this.  As I said there are people that believe this is a crossbreed between a native Florida species and a species that has been released by the public.  They have not yet positively the identified either of the species that created this new toad.  The problem with identifying the two different species is because of the argument of weather this is even due to crossbreeding in the first place.  

The debate of this being a brand new species or a crossbreed is still going on.  However either way this new toad needs a name.  So the state of Florida and the local DNR (Department of natural resources) are running a contest to try to help raise awareness of the hazards of releasing non native animals into the wild.  They would like to involve the public in naming this new toad.  Many entries have already been made, but there is still time.  The contest is due to end on Friday, January 25th.  So I have setup a link to my site where you can find information on this contest.  Scroll down to take a look at this new toad.  Also give your feedback on weather you believe this could be some sort of crossbreed or just a toad that had not been seen or recorded in any books before.