the dreaded canetoad

[bdowdy]

:ohi just got back from fishing moogerah dam and was shocked at seeing aheap of cane toads on the drive back one night after a feed at aratula pub , havnt seen this many since i wasat awoonga fishing and went to cania dam. how far have they got :o bdowdy

[Flyseyes]

might be a good idea to carry a 5 iron in the rod tube.

[bdowdy]

;)yep its getting that way, least it was entertainment trying to run as many over as i could,just think what they could do to the bass scoffing these off the water :'( >:(. everyone get some golf in between fishing trips. ;) ;D bdowdy

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

What would make the bass scoff them?? They haven't hurt any fishing anywhere that I'm aware of, and the water rats clean heaps of them up at night. They only eat the heart and liver. Nature has a way of looking after things and I think the bass are pretty safe.

Cheers
Dave

[bdowdy]

:)just heard that they can kill our fish and even crocs up north , im a southerner so it may all be bull stuff. bdowdy :-?

[wacco_fozzy]

A squirt bottle filled with Dettol is dynamite on them, with the added advantage that they hop away into someone else's yard to die.

Beats putting them in the freezer, 'cause I got into trouble once when I forgot to pull one out and the missus went looking for something for tea.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

Hey Bdowdy

The old toads could certainly hurt fish if they ate them. A part of them is poisonous, and fish seem to know this and that's why they don't eat them. Ok, a juvenile might have a bit of a go, but generally speaking fish don't touch them. The fish in Awoonga and Cania and countless impoundments prove this. Even the water rats know which bit they can eat, as do crows when you see them on the road picking over the squashed ones! Toads killing fish from eating them is an exagerated myth in my opionion. And if they crocs ate them and died, there wouldn't be a croc in Australia!

Cheers
Dave

[Mad_fisherman]

Don't lick there back!

All Bad.

MAD!

[turkey_beach_boy]

A friend of my has barra in his dam, fish came up sucked in toadpole then spat it out straight away.

[Sportfish_5]

Wheres Bazza ? ;D ;D ;D ;D

http://www.cane-toad.com/movie.php

Cheers

Greg

[rando]

Mad
do you often go around licking things on the back :D :D :D :D!!! weird man weird ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Mad_fisherman]

Rando,
Nah man the misses frown son it for some reason. however, i have heard the old toads go alright lol. but not my cup of tea.

MAD!

[rajawolf]

mmmmm licking a toad on the back on a dark cold night while fishing, sure gives u a warm fuzzy feeling. :-X

[Billo]

Dirty little buggers ....we will never get rid of them now !!!

Kakadu is now being invaded from them too .......say bye bye to a lot of native fauna !

I hope on your 'drive back ' you managed to drive right over a few ::)

[bdowdy]

:)sure did run over afew at least 10, thanks for all the info that everyones sent throught , interesting stuff on that site greg and love the sailfish. i heard there as far as lismore near ballina :o. the people stuffing and selling these toads are champs, if you havnt all ready seen them there stuffing the whole toad on stands with small spirit bottles and making coin pouches out of them as well ;D ;D bdowdy

[SeaHunt]

Dirty little buggers ....we will never get rid of them now !!!

Kakadu is now being invaded from them too .......say bye bye to a lot of native fauna !


I don't think that will be the case Billo.
Now I am no biologist or expert in any way, and I am only going by my own experiences and what has happened over the last 40 years since I met my first canetoad.

I remember Harry Butler telling everyone in the 70' s to go out and kill a canetoad, and that they have the potential to cause mass species extinction across half Australia.
Now 30 years on this has just not happened.
The toads and tadpoles are very poisonous and yet if anything has been made extinct it is probably some insect they eat or maybe a frog whose habitat they have taken over.

I am sure there have been a lot of individual animals have died from eating them , but I am also sure most quickly learn to leave them alone.
I live in Brisbane near the river , a lagoon and creeks nearby and the place is crawling with cane toads, yet the other night when I was walking the dog I almost stood on a 7 foot long carpet snake. #Now this carpet snake wouldn't be around if he ate canetoads and he must come across at least a dozen or so every night while he is out forageing for food, so he has obviously learn't to leave them alone.
Just like my stupid dog, although I had to extract a few from his mouth, yell at him and hose his mouth out a few times when he was a pup.
The back yard is crawling with them at night , but he prefers to chase and eat XMAS beatles at the moment. :P
I used to kill them, got sick of that, then I would relocate them from my backyard by picking them up by the head (they piss on ya if you are not carefull).
Now I have given up and have learned to live with them. #8-)

[theoldlegend]

As Wacco said, a squirt of Dettol does the trick, and they seem to go away before they die, which is a bonus. Nothing better than a dead cane toad in your neighbour's yard, even if it means tossing them over the fence. The alternative is to pick them up, (and risk getting squirted) put them in a bag and freeze them.

Reminds me of a trick we used to play on a pesky neighbour who had a nice lawn. You make up some Roundup solution, freeze it in an old ice cube container, then toss a couple of frozen cubes into the pesky neighbour's yard in the dead of night, the next morning the evidence has melted and the neighbour starts to get all these dead spots in his lawn. Good stuff if you don't get caught.

TOL

[Volvo]

My Missus is absolutely petrified of the beggars and keeps the squirt bottle full of detol and the dolphin torch with a fresh battery in it near all the time and standing orders of an evening if i'm not heading of Fishing is ten minutes if that of a wee bit of spotlighting ;).
Two weeks ago ide come across near twenty of the feckers between the front n back yard.
Now lucky if i come across four of the beggars..
Somethin tells me they is clever little hooers and know when they is not welcome..
Give the detol a try consistantly and they will get the message..
As for out in the bush :-/???...

[Jeremy87]

Carpet snakes primarily feed on birds and rodents, leaving most frogs and toads alone. Keelback's have developed a mild resistance to cane toads and can survive after eating a small toad. Most snakes have learnt to avoid cane toads but when they arrive in a new area they have a serious affect on fresh water crocodiles and water monitors. The population can drop by as much as 90% in recently affected areas and never returns to the original level. The major concern now is the affect they are having on Northern Quolls. Entire populations of the already threatened species have disappeared from affected regions.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

So how many dead crocs have you seen floating around with toads in their guts Jeremy? A lot of zoos have freshwater crocs as exhibits and I have never heard or read of them dying as a result of eating toads. Their enclosures are designed to keep us out, but toads could hop in without any problem.

Dave

[Maria]

So how many dead crocs have you seen floating around with toads in their guts Jeremy? A lot of zoos have freshwater crocs as exhibits and I have never heard or read of them dying as a result of eating toads. Their enclosures are designed to keep us out, but toads could hop in without any problem.

Dave

Now that's starting to grasp at straws. Big difference between enclosed and wild animals. Wild animals exist based on instinct. Enclosed animals develop behavioural traits based on their interaction with humans....e.g, ceasing to hunt for prey because they're routinely fed by humans. Second, I doubt you'd find a croc in an enclosure hungry enough to warrant it seeking toads for food that may have stumbled into the enclosure - they're well fed. Wild freshwater crocodiles however are known to prey on smaller animals such as frogs and thus there exists a very real possibility of them ingesting toads.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

I understand what you are saying Maria, and that in part, is exactly my point. You state that wild animals exist based on extinct. That is why the crocs don't eat and die from toads. That is why I asked Jeremy how many floating dead crocs has he seen with toads in their gullets. The media would have a field day if any such thing happened, and the croc population would be decimated. On the contrary, the croc population is very much alive and extremely well, so much so that in parts of Qld,(the home of the canetoad), Qld Parks and Wildlife are endeavouring to catch crocs and relocate them to less populated areas. Rockhampton is the latest such area to come under the spotlight.

Cheers
Dave

[Jeremy87]

Just stating the facts. Spend ten minutes googling it and you'll see the results of dozens of studies from reputable sources such as the csiro, new scientist and Australian geographic. Personally living in brisbane I don't see alot of crocs so i can't comment from personal experience. There is a big difference between the number salties living in esturine systems and freshies living in the creeks and billabongs. Though toads have been found in brackish water they do not exist in the same numbers as they do in fresh water. In addition fresh water crockodiles feed almost exclusively on frogs, fish and other small reptiles. I'll repeat that dramatic decline in population only occurs in recently affected areas as the predators are not aware that the toads are poisonous. And as for the media, they have a tendancy of only reporting controvertial stories. There is a real problem with the Northern Quolls and i have only seen it mentioned once or twice on tv. Most people are only interested in the fate of animals if you can cuddle it or if it eats you. Since Quolls, monitors, and small fresh water crocodiles fit into neither category it would explain why they haven't been given much attention.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

So I wonder how the tens of thousands of fresh water crocs have survived since the introduction of cane toads. The toads were introduced to Qld to conquer the cane beetle which was playing havoc with the sugar cane industry in Qld. Prime cane country also plays host to huge populations of crocs. I have never heard, read, or seen of any crocs being affected by any cane toads. Maybe I'm wrong with this, but it just seems strange to me and I am a born and bred CQ'er of 43years.

Cheers
Dave

[bdowdy]

:)i was only reading somewhere lately and had photos of freshwater crocs dead as and saying that the toads have killed these young crocs, may have been in the sunday mail paper :o :-?. just dont know what to think im just glad i havnt got them in tenterfield yet, think its too cold as we get minus12 and the average in winter is minus6. bdowdy :)

[DICER]

Crocs may be vulnerable, but you just have to think if you have billions and billions of these terminator machines, and they eat anything from insects to frogs and mice, you have to ask the question - what other animals do they displace or kill incidently. For what I care is only to anilihate these invasive animals in Australia.

BTW I would completely backup Jeremy - he's right. Much more is the fact that cane toads will completely displace species (not just predators) that are already under pressure from other factors and push them out even more marginally, perhaps towards extinction.

[SeaHunt]

Jeremy is right, when they first move into an area, individual animals will be killed until they learn they are poisonous.
This is not a bad thing.
The Stupid ones get weeded out of the gene pool, this is evoloution in action. After a number of generations it becomes an instinct not to eat them. Just like one day old chicks still know to run for cover when they the shadow of a hawk, or birds know not to eat poisonous insects etc..

For those of you who are familiar with Fig Tree Pocket in Brisbane, I went for a walk near the small lake in the park at the bottom of the hill and the ground moves away from your feet as you are walking, there are millions of baby cane toads about the size of your fingernail running around there.

We will never be rid of them, killing a few for fun is pointless. [smiley=smash.gif]

[dasher]

OK guys, we've all heard about the detol on the back trick, and yes I have used it and found a dead cane toad in my yard the next morning. But I'm still not fully convinced. Can anyone explain how it kills the toad and is there any scientific evidence. :o Detols starting to get a bit expensive to put in water pistols. ::)

Mind you if it can be proved maybe we could get some vigilante groups organised with those super pump up water pistols and headlamps and hit the baskets at night. Finished off with a cold drink and brag session. ;D

[PG]

From my experience Dettol is a very painful way to kill toads and you'll never get away with it in any animal cruelty argument. The idea to kill them is fantastic and I remember seeing a competition earlier this year, where the Northern territory Government put up a few thousand dollars prize to anyone who could produce the most effective cane toad trap. The money would go toward bulk production of the traps.
I know for a fact that toads secrete a poison into the water where they lay eggs and this kills off potential competitors for food so yeah frogs, fish and other animals are killed as incidental deaths even before we reach the stage where they might be preyed upon.
Interesting though that the eggs rarely survive any form of disturbance until they hatch. The delicate membranes inside the developing embryo dislodge or break very easily.
Maybe we should all get out fishing more to disturb the water? Lower the cost of fuel for boat owners would be a good start don't ya think? :)

[DICER]

Seahunt, I agree the stupid ones who introduce Cane toads into Australia in the first place should be weeded out of the gene pool (perhaps by having a toad sandwich) - then they should be nominated for a Darwin award.

Why do we have to inflict cane toads on the native animals? Cane toads are not harmless frogs. There are other ways to reduce the damage done by cane toads or for that matter invasive species. But it costs $$$$

[roz]

Do you guys realise cane toads are well into NSW, don't know how far south they can survive though.

I've also heard that the cane toad's tadpole has the ability to kill off any other tadpole sharing the same bit of water (it is supposed to have the same poison as the adult) thereby killing off it's competition for food.

Would be interested to know if anyone else has heard this?

As far as killing them, anything I can lay my hands on.

roz

[theoldlegend]

I've heard that they're headed for Tenterfield. It's a new strain that thrives on cold weather.

TOL

[theoldlegend]

I've also heard that with so many cane toads moving over the border is why NSW has been winning the past few State of Origin series.

It's also why the I Q of both states is on the rise.

TOL

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

For years and years and years, ever since the introduction of the toad, they have produced their tadpoles in the same water as all of the other frogs. I have kept fish ponds, in the ground, with gold fish, guppies etc and the toads and the frogs have all bred along harmoniously. It is my opinion that people in the south of Qld and beyond are being brainwashed by the whatever form of media. I am by no means an expert on toads, nor do I support their existence, but there certainly appears to be a fear of them among those who are not used to them or understand them.

Dave

[roz]

TOL,
Didn't a certain NewZealand prime minister, say that about kiwis moving to Aus? BTW I am a Queensland supporter!!!

Dave,
You are probably right, but you would have to agree, we could really do without them.

roz

[theoldlegend]

Yes Roz, he did. I think it was that Muldoon bloke. Didn't think anybody would pick up on it. Got caught out, didn't I?

TOL

[bdowdy]

;D ;D ;Dyep good one (theoldlegend) ill tell ya when they arrive with there jumpers ;D . and yes tenterfield is only 10 or so klms from the qld border but go the blues!!!!!!!. bdowdy ;) ;)

[DICER]

They have aleady made two hops towards New Zealand - that's North Stradbroke and Moreton. Next hop will be west - too Perth.

Goldfish and guppies are also introduced species....not native and don't count as living together!

Perhaps when you've seen mice/melomies or green tree frogs being eaten, I'll think you'll be convinced. But again they not just predators - they occupy a huge niche in the Australian environment.

Their poison is fairly complex - the more complexity, the more likely it will affect another generalist organism.

[thumps]

perhaps an observation


i work near a lagoon that has some monster barra in it...although this fact is not known by the general public.

it is also the home to my ritual Sunday night Toad Football Game

the Barra seem none the worse for the fact that there are toadpoles everywhere