Was in the NT for a while. Seemed to be devestating on the local goanna population but didnt seem to affect the crocs or other waterlife.

dont know about the fishing side of life, but your dog is in trouble! Even animals playing/investigating them makes them froth and makes them super ill and can still even kill them. I just love the fact that in WA, I can stick my hand into stuff like retic holes adn not have this horrible demon spawn creature in it!

not a huge impact on in land fish stocks. The frogs will suffer which means the bazzas won't have that treat any longer. Reptiles will be in trouble. Pretty disappointing.

That's putting it mildly Daz. F%^$^n disaster in my opinion.

When they arrive in numbers I'll finally be taking up golf! Pass me the driver ........

I heard on a tv show the other day that barra actualy eat cane toads!? Although it didnt say whether or not it kills them!

lots of stuff eat them - thats the problem. They are toxic. There's no natural predators in OZ that can survive them. when it rains, they go to the road for warmth and you drive over them and they make this awesome POPPING sound..... POP,POP,POP....doing my bit! they are still toxic when they are dead... horrid animal.

some of those comments really open the eyes to a lot of west aussies who may think they are just a frog....the truth is that we are not really prepared for the worst are we?

 one of the worst decisions the cane farmers ever had, bringing those things in to eat the cane beetle. from my understanding there is only one snake that can eat these things without being affected by the toxins. i think the toads have done more damage to the environment than the beetle could have ever done

Why haven't they run amuck there (my understanding is that they originate in Hawaii but may be wrong)

We need our scientists to focus on a biological agent to destroy them - a toad calici virus wouldm be nice!   

if you spray dettol on them that kills them, but the scientitst say thats not good for the eco chain in our water ways, native fishes, plants.   Must agree the most disasterous thing that has happened in Australia, the cane toad.  At least with the poms bringing out the fox, rabbit, cats & dogs we can eat the rabbit, shoot the fox/feral cats/feral dogs but the can toad is something else, terrible disaster just hope the scientists are close to finding a posion that will kill the toad and nothing else.

Export the legs to France, could be a market for them and if a monetary value was put on them I'm sure some enterprising people will want to catch as many as possible, no limits, just keep catching and exporting as much as you can. That is of course if it is done right and not to infect the meat with toxins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U8wO1blBuo

That's one way to quell the social unrest in France

They are here mate!

Some data suggests no real impacts to native frogs and smaller reptiles as the toads hit the higher order predators (goanna/snakes/birds of prey etc) harder and this then in turn reduces predation for these lower order species. There is a distinct lack of background data on species diversity and population numbers due to little work being undertaken over such vast geographic regions in the Outback. 

Freshwater crocs is another story. Only a few hard data studies have been done because most of east coast studies had impacts that were assessed against biodiversity surveys post the toads arriving/moving and no real species population surveys/counts prior to the toads. Studies in the VRD indicate freshwater croc numbers were heavily impacted once toads arrived (80% decline) but the freshies surrived the arrival. Some heavy studies coming out of Lake Arygle presently..... and yes thay are swimming across.......

Mammal species have been wiped out (well no survey re-captures) in many areas and the quolls have been impacted hard for example. Dogs will need to wise up fast or toad proof your property. 

Given the toads survival ability, current projections indicate toads will inhabit 2/3 of Australia. The 1/3 will be the central deserts.

So yes that means the toads will surley survive the climate Perth/SW experiences! 

So strap yourself in ......   

interesting Damo.....is there any indication or studies made to give us a timeframe or movement direction on these little puss bags?

The toads have a distinct modus operatues.

The female 'scouts' generally explore about 30km in advance of the general population. When the conditions allow they send out the mating call and the males come a knocking. Given the ability to lay up to 70 000 eggs once the business is done its all over for that area. This essentially means the (pregnant) females are always 30km in the front of the genaral stabilised populations scouting around for new habitiat.

Having said that there are some geogrpahic boundaries that will limit the toad travelling down the west coast. This relates to the vast expanses of water devoid habitates between Broome and Perth and given the toads prefer to breed in standing water the speed will be a little slower...... While the speed may be slower on the west coast compared to the east coast most people agree on one thing, toads are inevitable in environments conducive to their biology. Most studies here relate to species diversity impacts rather outright toad eradication, while plenty spend time killing toads it's simple statistics here mate that will allow toads to survive (big country no people)......

Last rain and toads were jumping around town.

Eradication will revolve around biological methods, not manual (if it ever happens). 

The chemical (poison) they release, is it a hallucinogen?
We could harvest the buggers and sell it to the hippies (joke)
I remember when I was in Cairns, my friends dog would pick the toads up and carry them around. The bloody thing would go crazy as if it was trippin

And the local kids in the NT pick them up off the road after being run over and dried out and give them a lick. Bit keen for my liking.