Cane Toads in the Katherine Region Northern
Territory ( And now Darwin too)
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Cane toad collecting
Always good for Cane Toad races to entertain the visitors |
The warmer weather is starting to arrive, and with
it the mongrel cane toads are showing themselves in force in the
Katherine Township.
They arrived as in their hundreds in the Wet
Season of 2001, and before you knew it they were here in the
thousands.
We had 24 in the fish pond at one time over the Dry Season 2004 (along
with others now all disposed of totaling 109 for a few nights walk
around the yard.)
We have not seen a goanna on the property this year (used to have
3 regulars that cruised the area)
We are concerned for the treefrogs as we noticed
that frog activity last year commenced upon the first rains
(storms) However the rains were not close enough together to
enable water to be held long enough for tadpoles to mature. All
this while the mongrel Canetoads sat watching & waiting until
about January as if they knew it was fruitless to spawn until
then.
So we have started our own little
Treefrog project in
2003/2004
to help boost the survival of treefrogs around the home.
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Good Luck Darwin......now the Pollies jump
up & down!
That Berrimah line! I remember it well :-) Just like when the
Toads hit Borroloola....it's a million miles away from Katherine.
All the April 2005 political hype now about golf clubs to
bash them & the good old slug guns to shoot them! Have they
forgotten about hygienic outdoor living & the Territory
lifestyle. Say I went & swung at a measly 10 toads last night
(could of done 40+), whacking them into the garden along the
fencelines or over to a neighbors yard, & even managed to spray
a few with detol which makes them scream as they hop off into
the darkness to die. And my Neighbor swung at a few over the
last few days.........what happens next.......the street and
neighborhood start to smell like death, the blowflys have a good
feeding/breeding frenzy & you cannot sit outside for a meal or a
beer or you'll dry retch & have to apologise to your invited
friends about the stench which wafts in from 4 directions. Ever
had 1 elusive green tree frog get squashed in the door and not
find it for a few days? Hmmmm just multiply it by about 20
different spots in your yard & the surrounding neighbors yards.
You can run but not hide. All this hype wears off when reality
finally hits. Don't hear too much similar stuff coming from
Queensland??
Say goodbye to some of those pleasures we were all once used
to. Get used to cane toads living under the washing machine &
out door fridges, and stinking toad crap the size of chicken
droppings (I wonder if there is a market?). Just be careful when
hosing around electrical appliances like the fridge.
There is a market in mozzie domes to keep them out of your
swag when camping.
Immunisation Theory
My theory is to let them go in Darwin & Kakadu so there is a
gradual influence instead of the Tsunami crashing wave that is
about to sweep through. Want to borrow a few?? Just let a few
hundred go in the Darwin suburbs so they can take their toll on
the animals (it's going to happen anyway) & MAYBE those affected
that survive can teach the rest. (We use this theory everyday,
just like immunisation. Get injected with a bit of the virus &
we learn to live with it better than being hit over the head
with the full virus.)
See
screensavers page
for photos to remind you and others what to look for (especially
the defiant cane toad stance).
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This photo taken 22Oct04.
Seen worse when you don't disturb them with a
camera in hand.
Tried the detol trick in the spray bottle, it
kills them alright, however you are left with the smell of
rotting flesh for many days as they hide.
The fishponds are left thick in canetoad sludge
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As of Mid December 2004 we conducted another canetoad hunt
over 2 nights and collected another 120ish. The following week after
we had 3 rains in a row we only collected 8.(rain has been few & far
between so far this season where we are) We also have hundreds of
tadpoles in 3 ponds (drinking bowls) & are taking punts that they
are treefrogs due to the fact we got rid of the 120 plus toads & one
bowl is a birdbath off the ground. What we also noted last year
was that the cane toads waited a lot longer before attempting to
breed, leaving the frogs to breed & die as the water dried up in the
waterholes. We are watching with anticipation this year and into
2005, as we have a fresh lot of frogs ready to roll. (probably end
up as sport for the toads). Forget your household traps, just do a
regular pick up of an evening once a week, and if it was announced
that Monday nights were the nights it would tie in well with the
wheelie bin pick ups. Saw my first canetoads about 75 km North of
Bulman Community at Gopulu Billabng in Central Arnhemland (about 375
km NorthEast of Katherine) Back in June 2000 (about 6 months before
being seen in Katherine), so good luck to Frogwatch & Darwin, there
are just tooooo many holes out there for them to slip through, we
should start concentrating efforts on the West. (Heard one popped
its head up on the road at the Vic River? in April 2005) Update
for Darwin 2006
The toads are getting closer to Darwin and all the hype that goes with it.
Guys, you will not stop them. I admire your valiant efforts. Just
get used to the idea of having Cane Toads around. If there was any
chance of doing something they would of done it at the Qld border
(but no-one in Darwin gave a rats as it was far away past the
Berrimah line) Just get used to your newly named environments.
The Darwin Cane Toad Entertainment Centre (I swam there myself many
many years ago (Hey, it was the 80's))
Rapid Creek Cane Toad Water Gardens
Lake Leanyer Cane toad Aquatic Centre
Darwin Botanical Toad Gardens Now ONE place I wish we had is the
salt water pond at East Point Reserve. (Sorry cannot be cheeky with
a rename there, you win)
It's 2007 and the big push is at the Western Australia border
and their toad busting efforts. Good Luck guys, but I think you are
also pushing it uphill.
The saddest thing is the attempts to preserve a rare pygmy
crocodile. All you can do is either remove them
OR feed them small
toadletts that will make them sick (very sick) &
retrain them not to touch them in
the future.
Just remember that usually it is the larger ones that
come through first packed with toxin that the crocs and goannas eat
killing them dead, before they spawn and the next batch of toadlets
take off. Remember my immunisation theory....... (I saw 3
nice sized Water Monitors at
Sweetwater Pool (on
Edith River) the other week, they are clawing back slowly against
the toad) |
