Deadly Cane Toads Devastate Australia

It has taken only 73 years for the cane toad to have made what seems to be a fatal attack on the ecosystems of Australia. Researchers in Australia's Northern Territories report that the population of freshwater crocodiles has been reduced by a stunning 75% because of the poisonous cane toads.

They were introduced into Australia in 1935 in the northeastern state of Queensland as a way to control the cane beetle that was harming the area's lucrative sugar cane fields. (I have enjoyed many a glass of excellent Bundaberg rum, made from Queensland sugar cane, but that's a different story.)

Because the toads have no predators, and are not native to Australia, they spread like wildfire. The crocodile used to be the top of the food chain predator in Australia, but not any more. They are so toxic that any animal or bird that eats them dies. Many dead crocs have been found with undigested cane toads in their bellies. That's how fast the cane toad's toxin works.

Moral of the story? Don't mess with Mother Nature. She put animals and plants where they ought to be. When man starts mucking about with her plan, it's to our expense. Look at starlings in North America, Eurasian millfoil weed in British Columbia's Okanagan lakes, etc. etc.

And speaking of toads, if any reader has heard rumors about licking a toad to get high, it's sure not the cane toad, but the Sonoran Desert toad of North America, also known as the Colorado River toad, and scientifically as Bufo alvarius. But you don't lick them to get high. Rather, it is said that some people may milk their venom, dry it and smoke it. But you didn't get that from me. Check out the psychedelic toads website, Bufo Alvarius Report.