Rewind to 1935 Australia. The sugar cane crops have been devastated by cane beetles.
What better way to solve the problem than to bring in some toads with voracious appetites. Here’s the
but - they aren’t native to Australia. “Eh, it’ll be fine,” says a vast majority of people drowning
out the voices of those shouting “BAD IDEA!” The crowd should have listened. Fast forward to today
and at this point a small population of 3,000 cane toads has grown to well over 200 million invasive
individuals. And you want to know the worst part - they didn’t even help with the beetle problem.
Cane toads are native to southern North America, Central America and South America,
though they are non-natively living in Australia as you’ve probably put together by now. Because
they are amphibians and since they don’t have a way to prevent evaporation through their skin
they require a moist environment in which to live. They don’t drink water but rather absorb it
through their skin via osmosis so even morning dew droplets will do the trick. These hardy creatures
have even adapted to be able to venture into brackish water, as well - something that most
frogs and toads are unable to do. Most amphibians can’t swim in saltwater because the salt content
of the water would be higher than that of their body meaning the osmosis process would reverse,
which basically means that most amphibians, when put in saltwater, will become too salty. And no,
I don’t mean like your salty Aunt Ruth on Facebook who just can get over Uncle Henry.
Cane toads spend most of their time on the ground or even burrowed inside it and are typically more
active at night meaning they are nocturnal. While active, they hunt just about anything
that will fit into their mouth. Centipedes, millipedes, crickets, spiders, scorpions,
roaches, frogs, lizards, birds, and even pet food can all land on the cane toad’s menu. So,
why didn’t they eat the cane beetles, then? Well, that’s because they are opportunistic
eaters and while they are able to eat all of the things, they are super lazy about getting food.
They tend to wait in an area where food sources will be abundant and just let the food come to
them. They can be this sly about eating because there’s not really anybody around to eat them.
To be fair, cane toads found in their native land are preyed upon by animals that have adapted to
eating them such as banded cat-eye snakes, eels, ants, and some species of catfish and ibis,
but in Australia they kind of have it made as they have very few predators in this part of the world.
Here’s the catch with these crazy cane toads, they’re actually poisonous which
makes them an unpleasant meal for even some of Australia’s fiercest predators.
What’s more, they’re harmful to and may even kill domestic pets if they’re consumed by our
furry family members. The cane toad epidemic in Australia is so bleak their government
website has a standard operating procedure for humanely euthanizing cane toads. Plus,
Australia has its own native frogs and toads who may get swept up in the collection processes,
so it’s good to know which animals are in fact cane toads.
Cane toads are a rather large species of toad and they typically average about 5 inches in
length (12.7 cm) though some of the larger ones can reach almost 10 inches (25 cm). They have dry,
warty skin that’s dark in colors ranging from grey, to brown, to olive green, to red.
Their stomachs are more pale and their entire body is usually covered in dark mottled spots.
Probably their most defining feature, however, are their swollen parotoid glands that sit on
their shoulders behind their ear drums. It’s from here the cane toad secretes its poison which acts
as a neurotoxin when consumed. So don’t eat a cane toad. In fact, don’t even eat their babies.
There are reports of people who have died from dining on cane toad tadpoles.
Speaking of tadpoles, cane toads can lay anywhere from 8,000 to 35,000 eggs and the length of the
process in which they metamorphose from tadpole to adult will vary based on their location and
surrounding temperature. Native cane toads typically take a year to reach maturity
while Australian bound cane toads may take up to two. They can live for at least five
years in the wild, though captive individuals have been recorded to live more than fifteen.
For more facts on cane toads check out the links in the description. Thanks again to terry tinpot
for the suggestion, we learned a lot! Let us know in the comments if you have any suggestions
as well. Thank you for watching and be sure to give a thumbs up for more Animal Fact Files.