by ANNE WILKINSON
photo courtesy Wet Tropics Management Authority.
A recent edition of The Weekend Australian Magazine featured, at first glance, a most amazing picture.
It was of a child lying smiling on the back of a large saltwater crocodile. The scene was the Daly River and the crocodile looked as if it was also smiling and peaceful. It was not. It was dead.
The crocodile had apparently scared the children, which were swimming, when it hauled itself out of the water on to the bank.
That was when it suddenly died.
The local policeman collected it up, intending to present its skeleton to a school for study purposes. When he opened it he found the cause of its death. There was a fresh cane toad in its stomach.
We are generally seeing fewer cane toads than we used to here in our region, but they are still a menace and have been responsible for the loss of much of our valuable wildlife. Following Cyclone Yasi a fresh influx of immature cane toads was noticeable, especially in gardens and other places where there were nooks and crannies in which they could shelter, so despite the apparent drop in population the war against these introduced and highly toxic pests is still important.
Having in the last couple of weeks found a number of large cane toads in the garden I decided to consult the experts. All the cane toad statistics are huge and give much food for thought.
It was of a child lying smiling on the back of a large saltwater crocodile. The scene was the Daly River and the crocodile looked as if it was also smiling and peaceful. It was not. It was dead.
The crocodile had apparently scared the children, which were swimming, when it hauled itself out of the water on to the bank.
That was when it suddenly died.
The local policeman collected it up, intending to present its skeleton to a school for study purposes. When he opened it he found the cause of its death. There was a fresh cane toad in its stomach.
We are generally seeing fewer cane toads than we used to here in our region, but they are still a menace and have been responsible for the loss of much of our valuable wildlife. Following Cyclone Yasi a fresh influx of immature cane toads was noticeable, especially in gardens and other places where there were nooks and crannies in which they could shelter, so despite the apparent drop in population the war against these introduced and highly toxic pests is still important.
Having in the last couple of weeks found a number of large cane toads in the garden I decided to consult the experts. All the cane toad statistics are huge and give much food for thought.
photo Wet Tropics Management Authority
A female cane toad, for example, can lay up to 35,000 eggs at a sitting, and can produce two clutches a year.
Cane toads can even tolerate levels of salt in the water in which they breed and they eat virtually anything they can swallow, including small mammals, snakes, smaller toads and insects, including honey bees. They only need small puddles to breed.
Their poison, present at all stages of their life cycle from tadpoles to toadlets to adults, can kill a dog by cardiac arrest within 15 minutes.
Cane toads were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 to destroy cane beetles, a task at which they are singularly inefficient and, as most people are aware, they have spread by various means throughout much of Australia, destroying native wild creatures as they go.
A few days ago I found a dead cane toad in one of the water bowls dotted around the garden. Its stomach had been removed, which made me believe it had been taken by a white-tailed or a water rat, both of which are known to flip the toad over before killing it. The stomach is only mildly poisonous.
I was also interested to be told tawny frogmouths and bush stone curlews, crows and, surprisingly wolf spiders, successfully attack these creatures.
This really is a plea to catch and destroy any cane toads readers find to give native creatures such as quolls, antechinus and frogs a better chance to recover their numbers. I believe the best and most humane way to kill them is to wrap them up and pop them in the freezer. Always wear gloves when handling them.
Experiments are continuing to find a method of interrupting their relentless breeding cycle, but in the meantime even creatures as large as estuarine crocodiles are being killed by eating what must appear to be a pleasant snack.
Cane toads can even tolerate levels of salt in the water in which they breed and they eat virtually anything they can swallow, including small mammals, snakes, smaller toads and insects, including honey bees. They only need small puddles to breed.
Their poison, present at all stages of their life cycle from tadpoles to toadlets to adults, can kill a dog by cardiac arrest within 15 minutes.
Cane toads were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 to destroy cane beetles, a task at which they are singularly inefficient and, as most people are aware, they have spread by various means throughout much of Australia, destroying native wild creatures as they go.
A few days ago I found a dead cane toad in one of the water bowls dotted around the garden. Its stomach had been removed, which made me believe it had been taken by a white-tailed or a water rat, both of which are known to flip the toad over before killing it. The stomach is only mildly poisonous.
I was also interested to be told tawny frogmouths and bush stone curlews, crows and, surprisingly wolf spiders, successfully attack these creatures.
This really is a plea to catch and destroy any cane toads readers find to give native creatures such as quolls, antechinus and frogs a better chance to recover their numbers. I believe the best and most humane way to kill them is to wrap them up and pop them in the freezer. Always wear gloves when handling them.
Experiments are continuing to find a method of interrupting their relentless breeding cycle, but in the meantime even creatures as large as estuarine crocodiles are being killed by eating what must appear to be a pleasant snack.
Brown Pigeon photo Denis Wilson
A short while before Cyclone Yasi we were asked by a distant neighbour if we had seen what she described as a “large brown pigeon”. As far as she knew it was a new bird on her block. Up to that time we had not seen such a bird at our place.
Then, a couple of days ago, there was a large brown bird, unmistakably a pigeon, with a noticeably long tail, sitting in a grapefruit tree in the garden.
Consulting the trusty bird book, we found it was indeed a brown pigeon – that was its name – and it had every reason to be in the garden because it feeds on the fruit of many pest weeds as well as that of pioneer rainforest trees such as the bleeding heart.
It must have approved of our garden, since we are still battling the weeds which have proliferated since Yasi and “beauties” such as nightshade, which it eats, are quite a feature. Clearings in rainforest are also favoured. Yasi certainly made a few holes in our rainforest patch.
And yes, it is a large bird, measuring more than 40cms in length and it is brown, in fact a beautiful, rich brown. I wasn’t close enough to check out what is apparently iridescence on its neck, or fine black barring on the breast, but it was certainly an eye-catcher.
Eventually, it flew heavily away but my guess is that until we have banished the fruiting weeds it will be back.
Then, a couple of days ago, there was a large brown bird, unmistakably a pigeon, with a noticeably long tail, sitting in a grapefruit tree in the garden.
Consulting the trusty bird book, we found it was indeed a brown pigeon – that was its name – and it had every reason to be in the garden because it feeds on the fruit of many pest weeds as well as that of pioneer rainforest trees such as the bleeding heart.
It must have approved of our garden, since we are still battling the weeds which have proliferated since Yasi and “beauties” such as nightshade, which it eats, are quite a feature. Clearings in rainforest are also favoured. Yasi certainly made a few holes in our rainforest patch.
And yes, it is a large bird, measuring more than 40cms in length and it is brown, in fact a beautiful, rich brown. I wasn’t close enough to check out what is apparently iridescence on its neck, or fine black barring on the breast, but it was certainly an eye-catcher.
Eventually, it flew heavily away but my guess is that until we have banished the fruiting weeds it will be back.
Wildwatch is provided by the Tully branch of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland: enquiries to 4066 5466 or 4066 5650. To contact the emergency 24-hour Wildcare rescue hotline, phone 4068 7272. Phone DERM on 1300 130 372 to report concerns about cassowaries and mahogany gliders.
