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Interesting Cane toad study
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by VaWrestler on April 8, 2012
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I was watching Na't Geo this morning and the Cane toad was introduced to Australia about the same time it was introduced to the US. It has covered all of Australia for the exception of two cities, yet has only moved north in Florida about 70 miles. Any ides as to why this is?
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RE: Interesting Cane toad study
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by VaWrestler on April 8, 2012
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And what does that have to do with the Cane Toads advancement being no comparison to the Aussie advancement.
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RE: Interesting Cane toad study
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by choppergreg74 on April 8, 2012
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Well it is just a hypothesis, but In FLA. every community does landscaping. Landscapers use chemicals. In fact when I go to FLA. every summer it seems there are landscaping companies working everywhere I look. Possibly cane toads are sensitve to some of the chemicals used. I know that that has contributed to the decline in the toad population where I live. In other countries like Australia, maybe there is not as much professional landscaping, or perhaps they outlaw certian chemicals we use in this country. I know in Europe they outlaw things like high fructose from food. (That has nothing to do with cane toads). It probally has to do wit some sort of chemical, wether for pesticide or landscaping purposes.
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RE: Interesting Cane toad study
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by LarryDFishel on April 9, 2012
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Scott, when an introduced species spreads extremely quickly, it's often because there were no indigenous species already in the same niche to compete with them (or none that could compete effectively). That has happened multiple times in Australia in particular since the native wildlife there is so much different from most of the world.
Florida is pretty similar to the home range of cane toads and was already populated by many species of toads (and as a result, predators that eat toads).
I was not saying that's the explanation, just throwing out an idea.
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RE: Interesting Cane toad study
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by LarryDFishel on April 9, 2012
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Also, not that it matters that much to the question at hand, but after a little searching, multiple sources (including National Geographic's site) more or less agree on the cane toad range in Australia, which looks like MAYBE 20% of the land area along the Northeast.
Of course, much of the interior is desert...
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RE: Interesting Cane toad study
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by VaWrestler on April 9, 2012
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Well, it does matter because the prgram yesterday on Nat geo said all but two cities were infested. Goes to show the major inconsistency within it's own self. 20% sounds way more believable..
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RE: Interesting Cane toad study
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by Buzztail1 on April 10, 2012
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One of the other things that already having indigenous toads brings into the equation is that we also already have things that prey on toads and Australia did not. The toads kill just about everything in Australia that tries to eat them because they never had to adapt to eating toads. Here in the US, we have quite a few things that eat toads and have no problems eating "Cane" toads. In fact, I have been told that Eastern Indigo Snakes eat "Cane" toads with absolutely no ill effects.
This question is something I discussed extensively with a couple of Florida FWCC biologists. Predators make a huge difference in whether an invasive will take hold or not.
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RE: Interesting Cane toad study
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by FSB on April 20, 2012
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I just heard on the radio the other day about a company in Australia that is making shoes out of cane toads - sounds like a great idea. The best documentary I've ever seen on the subject is The Cane Toads - kinda like a co-production between National Geo and Monty Python.
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