Cane Toads in Queensland

Hello

It is our last day in Queensland today.  Tomorrow we set off on our 3000 kilometre journey to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.  It is now really hot sunny and humid and quite unpleasant unless you are in air conditioning or a pool.  The flood waters are receding but there is still a lot of clean-up to go. 

Last night at Corinne’s parent house we went Toad hunting.  Its a very Australian thing to do, but then, they are mostly in only in Queensland, northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory. 

The Cane toad (Bufo Marinus) is an introduced feral, pest species that causes huge problems wherever it is.  The toad is poisonous in every way as are the tadpoles.  It is also a prolific breeder and spreads quickly.  Anything that tries to eat the toad or the tadpoles generally dies.  So all those native animals out there that fancy a meal of tasty toad end up dying or very sick.  The toads are also very poisonous to cats and dogs and as a vet you end up seeing lots of sad seizuring and dying animals that have been curious about the toads.

The toads were introduced to Australia in around 1935 to combat the cane beetle in the sugar cane regions in northern Queensland.  Unfortunately the toad did not like the beetle that much but liked everything else.  Also there was little thought put into the introduction.  These days people put a lot more thought is put into any introductions whether it is a bacteria, virus, plant or animal. 

So we went out with our torches, i had my new 3 million candle power torch which virtually cooks the toads with its brightness.  We caught about thirty toads and saw some frogs too which was great.  The toads and frogs are easy to distinguish as the toads are much bigger and have a tough, leathery, dry skin.  We caught this many in about 10 minutes, they are now resting peacefully in the freezer (in a lot of bags and Tupperware).

Cane Toads in Queensland