Army Sent to Fight Millions of Invading Toxic Toads 273
Reporter writes "The Australian state government called for the army to be deployed against the invasion of toxic toads! Battalions of imported cane toads are marching relentlessly across northern Australia and the West Australian government wants soldiers to intercept the environmental barbarians. From the article: "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. 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." More information about cane toads at Wikipedia."
Echos of Another Great Campaign 74 Years Earlier (Score:4, Interesting)
Simple Solution (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously though, I live in South Florida, US where they also pulled this trick (to save money for the rich sugar cane barons, but that's another story) and it's had the same sort of disastrous results. As soon as the toads found out that there were suburbs nearby, they quickly abandoned the cane fields and settled in the nice comfy urban neighborhoods. The toxin is extremely poisonous therefore, not only do they have no known predators, but they also kill household pets who are unlucky enough to encounter and bite them.
There is not very much you can do to control the Bufo's except to remove sources or food and water. These things thrive on pet food and we'll always have them in my neighborhood as long as morons keep leaving their pet food outside in their driveways (which also attracts rats, possums, and other nasties). They're also said to be able to survive months underground during the dry season and then emerge in the wet which is just starting here now so needless to say, my block has been crawling with them for the last 3 weeks.
I've also seen very little on humane ways of eradicating these pests. One site advocates putting them in a bag in your freezer until they're frozen solid but this doesn't sit well with the wife I'm afraid. I've heard of people pouring ammonia and other toxins on them (these are sluggish toads easily hand caught, not leaping frogs) but this seems cruel as well as not very envrionmentally friendly. We have a large dog who pounces on anything that moves, so needless to say controlling these things is a real concern. I personally know of several people who have lost their pets in the last year due to deadly encounters with Bufo's and that's one reason my dog never goes into the yard alone for any length of time.
Re:Someone needs to build a toadba. (Score:3, Interesting)
Aussie crows are starting to learn how to flip the toads over. This is only 70 years. The ecosystem will correct this problem. It may take a bit of time but the ecosystem is very resiliant. Its been able to handle everything thrown at it for at least the last 3.8 billion years and a lot of things have happened worse than a cane toad.
However - I will admit they are ugly. Also, they make a mess when you drive over them. The thing is the army isn't likely going to be able to make much of a difference. While practical controls should be employed where feasible - wiping out a critter like a cane toad is a lot harder than wiping out the passenger pigeons and Dodo birds.