Adventure Ausrama Blog

It has been a put forward that Australia should build a cane toad-proof fence across Australia. The rabbit-proof fence was a long term failure, largely because investment was not large enough for maintenance. States where the toad pest is already in plague proportions will no put in one cent. All fences put up to control kangaroos, dingoes, feral cats and wild dogs have failed in the long term. Animals are smart and they find ways of getting though when bad weather damages part of a fence line or animals damage the fence themselves. The problem is if fences are put up to stop cane toads getting to life saving water then all other animals are kept out as well. Toads need water. We all know that, but other animals also need water to survive. Basically, the only state with any areas free of can toads is Western Australia. Can we expect all the other states to give funding for this? Of course we cannot. With all states cutting expenditure on health, education and roa...

The toads cannot be stopped - cane toads that is. Some do-gooders are pressing the United Nations to act to stop the vermin from moving in to the Northern Territory and Western Australia. This won't do any good, Territories, states and the Federal Government have given up already. Even annual kills have not reduced the population one iota. Because the pests are moving into the Purnululu National Park, the Wilderness Society is pressing the World Heritage Center in Paris to take action. The Australian Authorities would welcome any extra funding they can get, but it is common knowledge that nothing can be done. World Heritage rules hold states, territories and national governments responsible to control pests in protected parks. In this instance it would be foolish for legal action to ensue. Trapping and fencing will not work. Australian laboratories are working on a biological control mechanism. Other countries with similar problems are working on a similar solution. Until an a...

Australian cane toads really get around, in most unlikely ways. A cane toad got into a golf shoe then survived a plane trip from Brisbane to Perth. It stayed in the shoe six days before being discovered by the shoe's owner. Apparently, this is not unusual. The pests are very tough and resilient. In the above case, quarantine authorities would not comment, though a spokesperson did try to make out that it was a tree frog. The owner of the shoe lived in Brisbane for many years and said it was definitely a cane toad. It seems cane toads won't have to walk across the top of Australia (as they steadily are). Crossing the country is far easier by plane. Cane toads are intelligent as well. It is known that if water is scarce they will follow a cow drawing moisture from cow pats until the cow eventually reaches a river or dam. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml http://www.technora...

Australia's death adder is contributing to its own extinction. Moving around to hunt their prey is not their method. An adder tempts its victims by laying in ambush and wiggling its tail tip. By wiggling its tail, however, it is noticed by cane toads, frogs and lizards who eagerly gulp down the tasty meal. After cane toads were introduced into Australia death adder numbers plummeted. Ironically as the cane toad attacks the snake it is bitten, so after its meal the cane toad dies - mutual suicide. Even if the snake eats the toad it will end up dead because cane toads are poisonous. For millions of years death adders have survived by enticing their prey within easy reach. Now this behavior is leading to their demise. Man cannot intervene to prevent this. There is nothing that can be done. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ http://adventure--aust...

You don't have to be big to kill a crocodile. A relatively small imported pest can kill one. Cane toads are in plague proportions in the Northern Territory.  Some like it so much here they have grown to be much larger than in their native Central America. Cane toads have poisonous sacks on their heads. When a saltwater crocodile eats a toad assuming it to be a tasty snack the salty ingests the poison and dies.  The problem is so serious that the crocodile population has fallen by half in some areas. Because the species takes a long time to breed up numbers, crocodiles could become very scarce in some regions. Introducing cane toads was a great mistake by Australian scientists. They were brought in to combat beetles destroying sugar crops in 1935, but the toads ignored the beetles and now threaten many native species by eating what they eat. To travel faster around the country some toads have developed larger hind legs to cover a greater distance before the sun goes down....

At last - a solution to Australia's can toad problem. Decades ago the pest was introduced from Hawaii to combat bugs that were attacking sugar cane, but instead of eating the target beetles the cane toads went about settling down here and have been destroying the native habitat ever since. Cane toads have recently reached Perth in Western Australia. Now they are established in every Australian state. Everything has been tried to kill them from hitting them with sticks, gassing them with carbon dioxide, to freezing them. None of this has had any effect on their numbers. A way has now been found, however, of killing off the pests. Placing a few teaspoons of cat food next to ponds in the Northern Territory attracts meat eating ants. When the baby can toads appear from the pond they are eaten by the ants. Most native creatures are affected by the poisonous toxin put out by can toads. Fortunately, the ants are fully resistant. All the toad eggs hatch at the same time, so if you activate...