A poisonous cane toad sitting on a keeper's hand at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. An Australian state government called for the army to be deployed against an invasion of toxic toads.(AFP/File/Rob Elliott)
A poisonous cane toad sitting on a keeper's hand at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. An Australian state government called for the army to be deployed against an invasion of toxic toads.(AFP/File/Rob Elliott)
The toads, Bufo Marinus, were introduced from South America into northeast Queensland state in the 1930s to control another pest -- beetles that were ravaging the sugar cane fields of the tropical northern coasts.
But the toads now number in the millions and are spreading westward through the Northern Territory, upsetting the country's ecosystem in their wake.
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Unintended consequences or what?
Whoa, the French are actually invading Australia?? Where's the outrage??
"An Australian state government called for the army to be deployed against an invasion of toxic toads."
Expatriate Liberal Dems?
Just wondering.
Wasn't this a Simpson's episode and it was Bart's fault?
Are those the toads that when you lick them, you get high?
Bufos are bad news for dogs (and probably other animals). They can be fatal if bitten, and if a dog bites one once and survives, they ALWAYS do it again because of the "euphoric" experience they had the first time. I lost one of my childhood dogs this way, and she was a strong, young, strapping purebred Pitbull.
Note: If you suspect your dog has bitten one, take a garden hose and wash out your dog's mouth then take him/her to the vet ASAP. One of the immediate signs is convulsions with foam in/around the mouth. (My vet is who told me about the using a hose.)
Man I hate a bunch of Toxic Cane Toads.
Ribbit' Ribbit' Ribbit'
Keep movin movin movin',
Though they're disapprovin',
Keep them toadies movin'froghide!
Don't try to understand 'em,
Just rope and throw and stomp 'em,
Soon we'll be living high and wide.
Now, now, it's a bit extreme to call it an "invasion", isn't it? Think of it more as an undocumented stream of toads who just want to do the work that local toads won't do.
Give every kid a pellet gun and $1 per toad bounty. They'll disappear quick enough.
What gets me is all the eco-freak alarmist stuff about deformed frogs and diminished frog populations due to pollution, and here these toads are marching across Australia as an unstopable scourge.
We have these in S. FL too. I have to really watch the dogs, because these dudes know they are toxic and they seem to have no fear of the dogs. And dogs...well, they're stupid! Nasty critters....and I actually like reptiles and amphibians. But these things should be eradicated. However, if it's like fire ants, the govt will take a "We can't really kill them, so we'll just control them" approach. Meanwhile, they wreck havoc on the native species.
susie
Whoever knew? If we really wanted to find Saddam's chemical weapon stockpiles, all we had to do was release millions of these little toads into Iraq.
Army called to fight toad invasion in Australia
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At first, I thought Bill Clinton was touring Australia.
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Arm the military with butterfly nets and start rounding up the toads.
"Cane toads have poisonous sacs on the back of their heads full of a venom so powerful it can kill crocodiles, snakes or other predators in minutes."
Holy smoke. Maybe THIS is the antichrist. Or if it isn't, can we turn 'em loose on the antichrist?
Call in the army? How about kids with BB guns? Toads make excellent "plinking" targets.