cane toads and dogs

[csgray]

When we first moved into our place the weeds, grass and brush were armpit high and we had buffos all over the place. The brush is more whacked back now, although no one would ever mistake it for a golf course, and that has reduced the amount of damp dark places for them to hide. We use the freezer method to dispatch the toads, then they go to the dump, and now we have virtually no buffos left on our place. African snails got the same treatment and are virtually gone too, even with all the rain we've had. Because we have a toad sucking dog, whose loyal and protective sister alerts us whenever Maia goes for a buffo, we have been determined to get them off our place. Persistence helps.

"Cane toads, an unnatural history" (1988) is a video documentary available out there on the internet and well worth watching. It is a very Australian, very funny take on the cane toad, who has been disastrous for Australia after they brought them there from Hawaii. Same deal as the mongoose/rat adventure in Hawaii. They were brought in to go after a pest they never crossed paths with, but wrecked havoc on the native ecosystem. There is another more recent documentary, "Cane Toads the Conquest (2010) that is more serious, but still good.

Carol