CANE TOAD EXPLOSION!
If you thought there were a lot of cane toads out at night lately... you were right.
The hot humid nights we've had provide their favourite conditions for coming out to look for food. The recent wet weather also made perfect breeding conditions so if you've got a dam or pond near your place, you'll notice heaps of little ones around too.
Queensland Museum's Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians, Patrick Couper, says it's bad news for animals that might eat or lick the toxic little creatures.
"If they try and ingest toads, many native animals die as a result of that. Just the simple act of mouthing a toad is often enough to kill a native animal."
So dog owners should be on the lookout: if your pet comes in at night with froth around the mouth, you should call the vet.
But as for dealing with the toads, Patrick says we'd better learn to live with them, because there's really no humane way of killing them.
"It's certainly not a good idea to go running around belting them with golf clubs and stuff, that can cause the venom from the glands around the neck to be forcibly ejected and if you get that in your eyes it's extremely painful," he says.
"Even freezing is not so humane as we once thought, ice crystals form in the brain and it's fairly uncomfortable for an animal. Those products for spraying toads are not particularly pleasant for the toad."
