Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Labels: food chains, frog, toads
Weird News: "Monster" Toad Found in AustraliaSYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - A huge cane toad the size of a small dog has been captured in the Australian tropical city of Darwin, startling environmentalists who are fighting to stop the poisonous reptiles from spread across the country."It's a monster toad," said Paul Cowdy from FrogWatch which captured the cane toad on Monday night.
"We've never seen a cane toad this big," he said on Tuesday. "It's a male and normally females are bigger."
The cane toad, regarded as a major pest in Australia, was one of 39 caught by a group from FrogWatch near Lee Point in Darwin. It measures 20.5 centimetres (8 inches) in length and weighs 840 grams (1.8 pounds) -- twice the normal weight.
Cane toads are one of Australia's worst environmental mistakes. The spread of the toads, whose skin is poisonous, has led to dramatic declines in populations of native snakes, goanna lizards and quolls, which are cat-sized marsupials.
"We capture them, put them in plastic bags, freeze them and turn them into liquid fertilizer," Cowdy said of the cane toads.
Cane toads were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in a failed bid to control native cane beetles. There are now more than 200 million cane toads in Australia.Source: CNN.comHere's a riddle: What happens if you keep feeding a cane toad?Answer: It just keeps getting bigger and bigger! 
Captive cane toads will allegedly eat everything from dog food to mice and they keep growing until they reach 25cm in length and over 4 kg.Points to Ponder: Perhaps the Australians should have thought carefully about food chains before introducing the cane toads to get rid of cane beetles. Now the population of cane toads is beyond control because all stages of the toad's life are poisonous. Therefore, the cane toad has no natural predator. What do you think Australia can do to solve this problem? Think about it and post your comments!
Miss Ho stepped on your garbage at
what a WEIRD ANIMAL-seriously!!!!!
By 
, at
3:11 pm
i think if they find any weird animal like this cane toad they have to check carfully and properly.If they can find any other animals it is the best,and we can find out more about other more animals.
By , at
5:28 pm
i have see it on tv it is not weird it is akind of toad
By , at
6:58 pm
its too weird!!!!!
By , at
7:32 pm
What ANIMAL is that,it looks very WEIRD!!!!!
By , at
8:05 pm
i think australia should'nt buy this cane frogs...
By , at
12:34 pm
toad eveywhere in australia so scared does it eat humans 2?
By , at
8:47 pm
This cane toad is probably the biggest toad in the world.
By , at
4:25 pm
ItS ThE WeIrDiEsT AnImAl I HaVe seen iN My LifE aNd iTs sOo DiSgUsTiNG!!!!
By , at
12:19 pm
its so weird! Maybe this is the biggest toad in the world
By , at
11:41 pm
Very very very weird animal!!!
i think that ,that is no a animal maybe it is an alien!
By , at
3:34 pm
Good words.
By , at
5:31 am