TYLER, Texas — Beautiful but deadly: the perfect words to describe the poison dart frog.
These amphibians gain their striking name from the toxin contained in their skin. A single frog could take down several grown adults, according to Katelyn Lenhart, supervisor of reptiles at the Caldwell Zoo.
"Like most things in nature, if they're brightly colored or patterned, it's a warning trying to tell you 'I'm very dangerous. Stay away from me,'" said Lenhart.
They gain this deadly poison from the insects they eat in the wild. However, only poisonous bugs aid to this toxic touch. At the Caldwell Zoo, poison dart frogs are fed a diet to neutralize their poison.
"So here in a zoo setting we are feeding them pinhead crickets, and fruit flies, which are not poisonous insects," said Lenhart. "It doesn't make them poisonous. So they are harmless."
For more behind-the-scenes zoo content, watch CBS19 on Fridays during Morning Y'all for the weekly segment, Exploring the Caldwell Zoo.