Toxic Toads Taking Over Australia

An anonymous reader writes "Yahoo News is reporting that toxic toads imported from Hawaii to help control the beetle population that was ravaging Australia's sugar cane crops have instead become pests themselves. From the article: 'The toads can grow as large as dinner plates and weigh up to 4.5 pounds. Their heads and backsides are studded with rows of warts that secrete a milky white toxin called bufotoxin. Because Australia has no native toads, many native predators such as snakes, lizards and mammals are very sensitive to the toxin. So when the toads spread, they immediately kill off many of the region's top predators.'"

Comments

any ozzies, here's a question for you:

[circletimessquare]

are these the toads i hear about in australia that you can lick and get high?

And this is news how?

[NerdENerd]

I am 35 years old and the cane toads here have been a problem as long as I can remember. I live in Queensland Australia where the cane toad is the biggest problem. I is kind of a state sport to see how many ways you can kill a cane toad when you are a kid here. Methods include golf clubs, cricket bats, air rifles, bow and arrow, home made flame throwers, shovels and any thing else you can imagine.

Cane toad? That's an odd name!

[ScaryMonkey]

I'da called it a chazzwozzer!

obligatory quote

[hgh]

Homer: Hey, look! Those frogs are eating all their crops.
                [everyone starts laughing]
  Lisa: Well, that's what happens when you introduce foreign species into
              an ecosystem that can't handle them.

And in other news....

[Shanep]

Germany and Japan have been defeated! The war is over! The allies have prevailed!

I grew up with these terrible toads in my backyard. That was in the early 70's and does not even come close to how long we have had these rotten toads.

BTW, they have also been known to kill crocodiles who eat them, due to the toads very powerful toxin. We urgently need something effective to use against the cane toad. They are killing off native species and are now invading our beautiful Daintree rainforest.