# Australia's New Ally Against Cane Toads



## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

I thought this was interesting. Hopefully they can figure out how to make it effective:

Meat Ants vs. Alien Toads


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/sc...ts-could-take-bite-out-cane-toad-problem.html


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

My link has a pretty video behind it


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

Ok, you got me there


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

I still don't see why commercial products from cane toads can't be a better option for eliminating them. This option was discussed years ago.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Rain_Frog said:


> I still don't see why commercial products from cane toads can't be a better option for eliminating them. This option was discussed years ago.


What do you mean? Like poisons and such?


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

I'll admit it - we killed every one we saw when I was in Australia last summer. They're horribly destructive to native fauna.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Yeah they are, and they are just everywhere!!


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## d-prime (Sep 29, 2008)

I would figure chytrid would impact the numbers


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Cane Toads are one of the few amphibians that are excellent carriers of the disease but rarely display symptoms of it.


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

I mentioned it the last time Otis07 (emily) brought this topic up.

Basically, I read an old article from a herp magazine that they were thinking about using toads for protein sources, fertilizer, and possibly derive some type of medical, topical ointment from cane toad poison.

Unless b. marinus have poison glands all over their body, I think they could make an excellent source of protein for fish feed and pet food.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Rain_Frog said:


> I mentioned it the last time Otis07 (emily) brought this topic up.
> 
> Basically, I read an old article from a herp magazine that they were thinking about using toads for protein sources, fertilizer, and possibly derive some type of medical, topical ointment from cane toad poison.
> 
> Unless b. marinus have poison glands all over their body, I think they could make an excellent source of protein for fish feed and pet food.


All toads have poison glands all over their bodies, but they're less concentrated on the bellies. You'd basically have to skin the things to make them non-toxic. Even if they were useful for those things, there'd still be the issue of collecting them enough to really impact the population.


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## d-prime (Sep 29, 2008)

Destroy the eggs


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Again, easier said than done. With each female capable of laying up to 20,000 eggs, it only takes a few missed eggs to keep the problem from being solved.


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

d-prime said:


> Destroy the eggs


Not an easy task when you're talking about explosive breeders like most _Bufo_ species.


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## NorthernFrogguy1976 (Apr 7, 2009)

Soo let me get this strait,
Introduced beetles came into Australia, so they released toads to kill the beetles. Now the toads are destructive, so they are going to release ants to kill the toads? i didnt read the whole article or anything, but sounds like they are repeating the same mistake to me..... 

if the ants destroy everything what are they going to release to kill the ants? Lizards?

Edit: ooo they are native ants... but still even if they get the native ant populations to boom incredibly, doesnt that still poses a problem?


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

I don't think so. The issue with invasive species is that they have no checks and balances, so their populations boom. What would likely happen with these ants is that they wouldn't necessarily boom, but be encouraged to start colonies at favorite toad ponds and basically pick off toadlets as they come out of the water.


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## NorthernFrogguy1976 (Apr 7, 2009)

hm... that is interesting. It will be cool to see what comes of it, and how you could encourage ants to live near toad breeding areas. if ants aren't already near toad ponds naturally, isnt there a reason why they arent? i wonder what technigues they will use.


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## Rich Conley (Jun 12, 2008)

Dendrobatesrichardii said:


> hm... that is interesting. It will be cool to see what comes of it, and how you could encourage ants to live near toad breeding areas. if ants aren't already near toad ponds naturally, isnt there a reason why they arent? i wonder what technigues they will use.


Yeah, that is my thought: if these ants are efficient cane toad predators, their populations should have boomed right after the cane toad population did.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Rich Conley said:


> Yeah, that is my thought: if these ants are efficient cane toad predators, their populations should have boomed right after the cane toad population did.


Not necessarily. Unlike the toads, presumably the ants have natural predators, so their populations might have done well, but I'd guess that everything that feeds on those ants also is doing well. The next impulse would be to say that the ant predators would boom, but one has to keep in mind that sub-tropical and tropical areas where these toads can survive aren't typically black and white like that. Each animal often preys upon many animals and is also prey for a number of animals, especially for those low to mid tiered consumers.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

flyangler18 said:


> I'll admit it - we killed every one we saw when I was in Australia last summer. They're horribly destructive to native fauna.


Sounds like you missed the main event, Jason: Australians unite for mass cane toad cull - Telegraph


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## flyangler18 (Oct 26, 2007)

skylsdale said:


> Sounds like you missed the main event, Jason: Australians unite for mass cane toad cull - Telegraph


Ha- yeah. I was in Arnhemland where they aren't considered as large of a problem as in Queensland, NSW and other states. Spent a few days in Cairns on my journey up to Gunyangara and Yirrkala - bastards are everywhere. Took part in a local roundup - think we brought in about 500 or so in 3 hours.


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## batrachiophyle (May 7, 2009)

unfortunately, bio-warfare, and the introduction of species as a means of bio-warfare almost always ends in utter catastrophe... the bio-warfare - be it native, or introduced in dynamic... always seems to be a completely ridiculous undertaking in hindsight... no matter how much monkey brain went into it's initial conception.

sure... _B. marinus_ is diurnal, as are the Hymenoptera in question. most native Hylids, Bufos, and Ranids are nocturnal.. these "meat ants" are also seemingly immune, or unaffected to the poison of _B. marinus,_ and, the ants are actually native to Australia.

it all sounds quite grand in light of the terrible _B. marinus_ problem at hand...

but, i can quite easily imagine reading yet another article say two years after the "meat ant offensive" wherein so-and-so journalist reports that so-and-so zoologists didn't foresee the "meat ants" eating native, baby, freshwater crocodiles, too... [animals who's populations have already been decimated by _B. marinus_ in the first place.] etc., etc..

these things just typically never work as planned, and the arrogance of the biologists and zoologists who come up with these ideas literally astounds me.... "i'm smarter than the intricate complexities of entropic life on this rock!! i know,... i'll do "x!"

famous last words, lol...

not that _B. marinus_ isn't a wretched problem that deserves a lot of discussion, because it is, and it does - to say the very least. it's a problem which deserves a solution, too.. please, don't get me wrong here..

even southern FL is now rampant with the highly successful Anurans as well... pretty soon, in fact, most other native batrachians of southern FL will be completely out competed by the likes of _Bufo marinus_ and _Osteopilus septentrionalis_ - both species introduced via human error, or human shipping.

i REALLY hate to sound like such a curmudgeon, or a pessimist, because that's not very indicative of my outlook, but again.. these things typically always blow up in our surprise and shock-ridden monkey faces.


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