Raising Cane

Cane toads - everywhere!  Literally millions of them.  That's the problem that northeastern Australia is having.  In the 1930s cane toads were deliberately introduced in areas where cane beetles were destroying sugar cane crops with the hopes that the toads would go after the beetles.  Turns out cane toads couldn't reach the areas in the sugar cane where the beetles hide; using the toads as pest control was a total bust.  Not only a bust, but it has turned into an environmental disaster.  Cane toads are very prolific and one female can produce thousands of eggs twice a season.  The cane toads started killing all kinds of would-be predators due to their toxic skin.  And not only are the adults poisonous, but its eggs and tadpoles are as well.  Now endemic species, including native frog and many other species that the toads eat, are in danger of being wiped out, and all kinds of schemes have been and are being hatched to get rid of the toads.

Photo by Tim Laman   Source:  National Geographic

In its native Central and South America, some natural predators have evolved to become immune to the cane toads poisonous glands on its back, keeping its numbers under control.  But in areas where the toad has been introduced, predators such as snakes, dingos, and even crocodiles are dying because they have not yet had the time to counteract it.

Cane toads have been responsible for the death of pets, also by poisoning them.  And the toads that will eat almost anything have been known to go after pet food left outside.  However, the tables have been turned as scientists have discovered one of Australia's smallest natural predators is able to kill young cane toads - carnivorous meat ants.  Dollops of cat food are used to attract the ants to areas where the baby toads are coming out of ponds.  The ants then swarm the baby toads and kill 70% of them.

Source:  Sydney Morning Herald

Another unexpected natural predator is the crow!  The crows haven't become immune to the poison, but they have learned to grab a leg, flip the toad over on its back and go for the soft underbelly, thus avoiding the poison.  Magpies have also been seen using a similar procedure.  I told you in my 'Birdbrain? Balderdash!' post that birds are pretty smart.

Source:  Wikipedia

Some good news, if you can call it that, is that cane toads are literally eating themselves out of house and home - some starving to death because they've wiped out their food sources.  Populations of some endangered species have been moved to islands to protect them from further decimation from the toads.

The moral of the story - don't mess with mother nature!  Introducing one species to wipe out another, sometimes does more harm than good.  For a video, click here.