Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night Glad he's better. That must have been so frightening.
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night Oh my goodness, how awful! Good to hear it didn't last too long, poor thing! And good thing you have an after-hours vet to call. Are there lots of those toads around? Are you worried about a repeat performance?
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night What a horrendous experience. Total nightmare. I'm so relieved that he recovered quickly. Cane toads are an introduced (feral) species and are an environmental disaster. They live in the tropical and subtropical areas of the country but are steadily expanding their range beyond this. At night, these toads come out and are everywhere. Everywhere. They are horrible, disgusting, ugly and foul. As they are poisonous they kill a lot of the animals that eat them - birds, reptiles, small mammals... If only all the feral cats and foxes would eat all the cane toads and cark it, then we'd all be better off....
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night Yes at night where i live in tropical Queensland there are always cane toads around, at all times of the year. They have no natural predators either and are a threat to lots of Australian native animals. The only thing i can do to prevent this from happening again is watching Max when he goes outside at night to do his business as he is inside through the night. I'm hoping that he learns from his experience and doesn't mess with one again!
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night I would say that it's been a big learning experience for him. What they in the business call 'one trial learning'. I'd guess that he won't touch a toad again. Poor little man and poor you for having such a shocking fright.
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night [quote author=Oberon link=topic=8650.msg122303#msg122303 date=1415429966] ... If only all the feral cats and foxes would eat all the cane toads and cark it, then we'd all be better off.... [/quote] I guess neither the toads or the cats get much sympathy then
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night I like cats, but feral cats are Armageddon for native wildlife... Australia used to be teeming with small marsupials, now largely extinct or endangered and mostly due to feral cats, of which there are millions. And absolutely nobody but nobody likes cane toads.
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night I imagine no one would mind if the rabbits took a sudden liking to the toads, either? Why don't the cats go after them? Are they big toads?
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night Rabbits are also welcome to dine on toads! Not the pet rabbits, obviously.... The toads do get huge - I bet Tahlia has seen some whoppers! But they start out tiny. I guess the cats must eat them...? I actually don't know if toad toxin affects cats....
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night Yes they are huge and ugly and toad toxin affects cats too. I've heard that apparently some animals like the tawny frogmouth owl and rats have learned to roll them over and eat their organs and not get poisoned, not sure how true this is. Yesterday I read in the newspaper that they plan on making cane toad an Australian cuisine.... yuck.
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night I read an article about cane toads in Australia - I wouldn't have, but because of this thread it caught my eye. Wow - such a serious problem! And they are spreading so fast. Anyway, this chap was arguing that one good idea would be to introduce small cane toads into an area, before the main front arrives, so the local wildlife can learn how awful they are to eat, and survive the encounter with the small toad, so they know not to touch the big toads when they arrive....but he said people are very, very resistant to the idea. Very sad about the devastation, but also very interesting! Gosh, introducing species into non native areas, always seems a mad idea.
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night It is a very interesting topic and I can understand why people are so resistant to the idea because of the huge problem that the first introduction caused!
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night I looked them up too...yeesh what a nightmare! Poor Australian critters, what with the rabbits, cats, and toads, they seem to have a difficult time of it! :-\
Re: Max, the toad & a very stressful, scary night Gosh what a worry. I wouldn't have knkwn what to do at all.
