"Like the cane toad, the species was brought into Australia to try and control insects. They first arrived in the 1860s to control pests in market gardens in Melbourne”.

“They were then introduced to northern Queensland to try and control pests in sugar plantations.”

The result has been a nightmare for native wildlife, with the mynah species a prolific breeder, seeing each mating pair lay up to 15 eggs per year, overtaking entire towns."

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/council-declares-war-against-terrifying-backyard-invader/

#indianMynah #caneToads #introducedPests

Council declares war against terrifying backyard invader

An Aussie council has declared all-out war on a common backyard find that it believes will threaten an entire town.

Realestate.com.au
Pet-poisoning pests cross border into NSW

Deadly cane toads have escaped Queensland again, hopping across the border into New South Wales and causing concern for pets and wildlife.

Tonight our teenage daughter asked if we could rewatch the old Cane Toad documentary, An Unnatural History. We’d played it for her when she was much younger and it had stuck with her. It’s still a cracker documentary, in equal measures informative and alarming and hilarious. One of the best. Also, it ends with a theme song written and sung by Tim Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House fame.

Worth a watch if you’ve not seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZgm9yiGzEE

#CaneToads #NatureDocumentary #Australia #BiologicalInvasions

Cane Toads An Unnatural History 1988 (VOSE)

YouTube

This film came up in conversation today and I'm always surprised that no one has seen it. I saw this in a biology class at uni and that is when I learned that documentaries can have a sense of humor.

And it turns out that someone put it on YouTube so you can enjoy it for free

Cane Toads: An Unnatural History

https://youtu.be/aZgm9yiGzEE

#CaneToads #Nature #Documentary #Movie

Cane Toads An Unnatural History 1988 (VOSE)

YouTube
Cane Toad Warning: Pest experts say they're seeing more this year

Invasive Cane Toads are all over SWFL this breeding season. Experts warn they’re toxic to pets and wildlife, harming the ecosystem.

FOX 4 News Fort Myers WFTX

Not new, but still brilliant. Nature adapts — and fast. Australia’s native water rats, also known as #rakali have figured out how to safely eat deadly #canetoads by surgically removing and feasting only on their hearts.
#nature #adaptation #australia #evasivespecies

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/26/australian-water-rats-cut-cane-toads-open-with-surgical-precision-to-feast-on-their-hearts

Australian water rats cut cane toads open with 'surgical precision' to feast on their hearts

Scientists say native rodents in Western Australia have discovered how to kill and eat parts of the poisonous pests

The Guardian
RE: the “I run over Cane Toads with my car” sentiments disturbed director Mark Lewis so much that he instead recreated the act using large potatoes placed in the road that with some cleaver camerawork looked like someone running over the Cane Toads
#LaEsoterica #CaneToads
Like most things in Australia, The Cane Toad is poisonous at every point in its lifecycle. The poison is often fatal to other animals and causes extreme skin and eye irritation in Humans
#LaEsoterica #CaneToads
And now our feature presentation: “Cane Toads: An Unnatural History” directed by Australian filmmaker Mark Lewis (https://youtu.be/wkxwrpJg5W0?si=QfNPdO3aGyZ22kf3)
#LaEsoterica #CaneToads #MarkLewis
Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988)

YouTube