06-28-2009, 04:27 AM
All the research I did said that if your pet does get a dose of the toxin to wash their mouth out with a large quantities of water. I'd use a hose for a dog and maybe the kitchen sprayer for a cat. The water dilutes the toxin and prevents it from being absorbed through the mouth tissues. If you wrap the cat in a towel so only the head sticks out you have a better chance of not getting shredded.
Our older dog is not interested, which is good because she prefers to spend most of her time outside. But the "puppies" are 6 months old and have a super strong predator drive (they brought me a huge rat they killed the first day we had them when they were only 3 months old).
I think we are going to try limbing up a bunch of the trees and shrubs and otherwise limiting the shady places for toads to hang out during the day and be vigilant about standing water. Breeding has to occur in water to be successful. The eggs take anywhere from 17 days to 6 months to hatch and even the eggs and tadpoles are toxic. And we will have to keep the dogs on leads when they go out at night, especially when it is raining. And of course when it is raining is when you really want to just let them out to do their business and not have to walk them! We don't have to worry about toads coming for the dog food, with our three there isn't a speck of food left in their bowls 10 minutes after feeding time, but I really don't want to have to lock young active dogs up in a box all day when they have a fenced acre to run around on. We've had to do that while we secured the fences and I don't think it was good for them. These are Poi dogs with a good amount of either blue heeler or Australian kelpie in them, so they are very active by nature. One sister seems to be showing signs of black lab genes and is going to be less active when she grows up, but her sister is more like a fleet hound and has tons of energy. Oh well, we'll do what we can to keep them safe.
There is a great video called "The Cane Toad, an Unnatural History" about the Cane Toad problems in Australia. Very Australian sense of humor, but also a lot of good factual information about the environmental havoc they've wrecked there. Their cane toads were imported from Hawaii in the 30s, but they are much bigger than any I've ever seen here, and they have them in much greater concentrations.
Carol
Our older dog is not interested, which is good because she prefers to spend most of her time outside. But the "puppies" are 6 months old and have a super strong predator drive (they brought me a huge rat they killed the first day we had them when they were only 3 months old).
I think we are going to try limbing up a bunch of the trees and shrubs and otherwise limiting the shady places for toads to hang out during the day and be vigilant about standing water. Breeding has to occur in water to be successful. The eggs take anywhere from 17 days to 6 months to hatch and even the eggs and tadpoles are toxic. And we will have to keep the dogs on leads when they go out at night, especially when it is raining. And of course when it is raining is when you really want to just let them out to do their business and not have to walk them! We don't have to worry about toads coming for the dog food, with our three there isn't a speck of food left in their bowls 10 minutes after feeding time, but I really don't want to have to lock young active dogs up in a box all day when they have a fenced acre to run around on. We've had to do that while we secured the fences and I don't think it was good for them. These are Poi dogs with a good amount of either blue heeler or Australian kelpie in them, so they are very active by nature. One sister seems to be showing signs of black lab genes and is going to be less active when she grows up, but her sister is more like a fleet hound and has tons of energy. Oh well, we'll do what we can to keep them safe.
There is a great video called "The Cane Toad, an Unnatural History" about the Cane Toad problems in Australia. Very Australian sense of humor, but also a lot of good factual information about the environmental havoc they've wrecked there. Their cane toads were imported from Hawaii in the 30s, but they are much bigger than any I've ever seen here, and they have them in much greater concentrations.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb