Mike's Australia by Mike Dixon - HTML preview

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21 Cane Toad

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I first came upon them in a campsite in Central Queensland.  That was about forty years ago, soon after we arrived in Australia from England.  I got up in the middle of the night and found that the sprinklers had come on and the grass beneath my bare feet was comfortably wet.

I took a step forward and something brushed against me.  I jumped back fearing a snake and the thing hopped away.  The movements were froglike but the thumps were far too heavy for a frog.

I returned to the tent, put on a pair of shoes and armed myself with a torch.  The lawn outside was covered in toads with bodies the size of saucers.  The huge amphibians were luxuriating in the wet grass, grunting contentedly as the torch flicked over them.

I skirted the sprinklers, reached the toilet block and was confronted by an even more impressive sight.  The lights came on automatically and the floor was suddenly alive.  Toads were everywhere, fleeing into cubicles and piling up in corners as they tried to escape.  Mounds formed and collapsed as squirming bodies fed themselves down outlet pipes.

We were living in Canberra at the time and the cane toad had not yet reached that far south.  Years earlier, it had been introduced into northern Australia to eat beetles threatening the sugarcane crops.  Like many attempts to solve ecological problems, the solution was far from ideal.  The toad found habitats outside the cane fields and was soon competing with native amphibians for food and territory.

Many native species are now threatened.  The toad has reached South Australia and stringent measures are in place to prevent it from crossing into West Australia.  The conclusion of many experts is that the measures will ultimately fail and the most we can do is delay the creature's march across the continent.

Like many householders, I do my bit.  I kill the toads whenever I see them and create habitats in my garden for native frogs.  The toad has poisonous glands and care must be taken when handling it.  A neighbour lost a dog that bit one.  Other people have lost cats.

Our customs officers are as strict about plants and animals as they are about drugs.  Please cooperate.  You could be carrying an environmental timebomb in your luggage.  The smallest things can multiply with appalling consequences.