Giant Toads

Comment

Comment by Danny Mendez on January 30, 2010 at 2:32am

Jennifer, I could use some large specimens for our living Museum collection and educational talks on invasive species. I'm afraid there's not much you can do expel them from your yard as I'm sure your neighborhood overall is a haven for them. Please contact me directly via email as I would love to discuss this further with you.

Comment by Jennifer Martin on November 10, 2009 at 8:43pm

Thanks for your response. Even though they are invasive my husband won't kill them. It says on the internet that it is humane to freeze them and then bury them but I don't see how that can be humane. Perhaps if I could find some literature on it being humane my husband might consider it.

My other concern is what if I confuse the Southern Toad with the Cane / Giant Toad and kill a native species by accident.

Thinking about water now....we have a water garden that John built for my butterfly garden....that might be why we have such an issue with this toad. They lay many eggs in water...both males and females have ovaries. I wonder if the water in my backyard is doing more harm than good....attracting these toads more than snakes. I never found anything on the internet that listed a natural predator. Where did you find that info? Everything I read says that the toads are so poisonous that anything that eats them will die. Pls advise where you read that b/c I would like to gather more info concerning that. If I can confirm that the toads won't poison the snake I might try to buy some more snakes for my backyard....native ones of course.

Concerning my dogs. I've seen the white poison shoot into my dogs mouth and on to their face. It's happened a few times. My dog has been having seizure issues and other neurological issues and we believe it is from the toad. Our dogs are westies so they are naturally curious and hunt small animals. It's been a struggle to keep them away from these toads.

Jennifer

Comment by Marten Fisher on November 10, 2009 at 12:46am

There actualy are predators of cane toads. The people kill the predators of them and it allows them to get out of control. Garter snakes and ribbon snakes would eat them as babies but since people kill snakes there are not enough around to control the numbers. One way to catch them is to put out pans of canned dog food for them to eat. They will come to it and you can catch them. You can also look for them as well. Native toads will not eat the dog food so even if the toad is small you can still be sure it is a cane. The method of killing them is putting them in a bag and freezing them. I take all my animals and have them play and mouth a southern toad. They are toxic but not like a canes and this helps them know that toads are bad news. Unless you are baiting do not feed your animals outside ever. One theory is that since water snakes, garter snakes, and ribbon snakes are native predators this is keeping the toads from spreading. People kill the snakes and you are going to have the toads. Only good snake is a dead snake. Introducing water and garter snakes may help. Make sure the water snakes are big so the toads don't eat them.

Comment by Vanessa on November 9, 2009 at 7:50pm

Oh no, those are cane toads right? I've heard about them and how invasive they are. I'm going to look into what you should do and I'll ask some other people on NatureBreak who might know. If you want some comic relief, there's a really funny Australian documentary called Cane Toads. They're invasive over there too. There's one lady on there who keeps them as pets and actually dresses them up!