Toads Busted
It was very good weather for toads!
After a hot dry week we had two storms pass over Chermside West in the lead-up to our Great Cane Toad Bust. I was even concerned that another storm might brew in the hours leading up to our event but after a small rain shower blue skies prevailed, the creek was flowing nicely and 17 people came along to the park.
There were 5 fearless kids amongst us and while 6pm was still quite light it was perfect for small humans and small toads who were happily bounding through the grass.
The early start meant our toaders were down on the ground catching tiny toads and one eagle-eyed person spotted a toad that hopped differently to the others. We examined it as closely as we could - it was very small and our eyesight was only so good in the fading light. Going by the rule that it is better to let one toad go free than to remove a native frog we were about to release it when we discovered it had tiny red patches on its inner thighs - a telltale sign of a tusked frog!
This tiny frog is part of what the Great Cane Toad Hunt is about. Cane toads can eat up to 200 insects a night. They are eating machines and a tiny native frog just can’t compete with with that - heck, it will probably get eaten itself! Tusked frogs are listed as near threatened so there was lots squealing and excitement over this discovery.
The tusked frog was returned to the area it was found and the toad hunt continued. As the time ticked over to 7pm the big toads appeared. Buckets were returned heavy and full with toaders reporting their catch numbers. “Just 12”, “almost 30” and “I stopped counting”. One toader returned with toads wrapped up in her shirt like a pouch - she’d got separated from her team bucket but kept catching toads regardless. Such dedication!
The rain never returned and the mosquitos weren’t too bad so the toads kept getting collected. I guesstimated at least 100. In some of the darker areas of the park, mostly around leaf litter, the toads were lined up on logs almost waiting to be caught. Nearer the creek some reported huge toads that escaped into the water in one giant leap.
We finished up just after 8pm, agreeing that it was quite addictive and hard to stop knowing there was always another toad hiding nearby. Freddo frogs were handed around and all the toads were loaded into my car.
At home I counted them all out and checked no more natives had slipped into the buckets. In total we caught 251 toads!
The most humane way to dispose of cane toads is through stepped hypothermia. Placing the toads into the fridge for 24 hours will cool the toad and put them in torpor (a natural amphibian state like hibernation). This switches off their pain receptors. Toads can then be transferred to the freezer for 24-48 hours to euthanise them.
For anyone unable to make it along last night we have buckets, grabbers, tongs and bin liners available if you’d like to do your own toad hunt. There have been a few people asking if we are planning to run the event again so we’ll look into setting up a regular group.
We also received a tadpole trap as part of our kit from Watergum so if you have seen any swarms of what looks like cane toad tadpoles (toadpoles) anywhere along Downfall Creek and are keen to have a go at trapping them please let me know and I can get the trap to you.
There’s now 251 less toads to compete with our native frogs for food. A great effort and a great start!