Cane Toads

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Well, we had our first 'experience' with the dreaded toads since moving into the house - yesterday evening. I had the dogs out for a toilet break, Lilly was muzzled as it was after dark...the other dogs went back upstairs but Lilly was scrabbling around in the garden. I *knew* she was after something and when I caught up to her, the muzzle and her mouth were covered in foamy saliva. Great. Yelled for OH to come and help...as I removed her muzzle, I could clearly see the frothy stuff caused by her grabbing a toad. Yuck.

We did the usual hold the dog's head forward, rinse for 15 minutes protocol. OH still wasn't convinced it was a toad though. ;)

Then on the last toilet stop of the night...lo and behold I walk out the front door and THERE IT IS. :D A bloody awful toad...only a baby but big enough to cause poisoning. Wasn't prepared with the dettol squirter (don't ask me why ) and it got away.

We now have a dettol squirter and torch just inside the front door. :D

BTW - it bucketed down rain last night. :D

[Jack@sandysmum]

We were in Darwin over five years ago and at that time the toads had only come as far as Kakadu! Soon enough they will be taking over Australia. We have friends in Qld who also have a 9 iron ready and regularly have a "practice". ;)

eta: I am really missing Darwin at the moment, the cold weather is coming so fast, not to mention the public holidays that we don't get down here!

Edited May 13, 2007 by Jack@sandysmum

[Just Midol]

I had an incident with Axle a few days ago - I panicked and just stuck the hose in his mouth which cleaned his mouth AND made him spew so if he ate any it came back up ;)

I keep the golf clubs at the front door but I am thinking of adding 2ft of flyscreen to my fencing and dig it under 6'' as cane toads can't jump very high - do you think that would keep them out?

[B-Q]

i used to live in katherine. toads EVERYWHERE. just yuck.

our dog have never had an incident. buster grabbed some frogs before he found a toad and he very quickly learned that he was not allowe to touch them ever.

when mac was a puppy, buster would let her go and talk to the frogs. just follow them and sniff them. but if she saw a toad and started heading for it. he would intervene and stop her from going near it by pushing her back. i duno how he knew the differemce.

i really find them yuck. i don't agree wiht killing them inhumanley but they reckon now if you want to kill them humanly you have to rub hamaroid ointment on their back then freeze them. i'm afraid i'm not going that far. we just used to freeze them.

once i found a dead one crushed up in the luvers. and a coupl e of times they got into my room. ehhh

i go home for holidays in a coupl eof months ;)

Edited May 13, 2007 by busterlove

[Mooper]

Ewww. Welcome back to Darwin, LM. It's horrid that these nasty creatures have spread so far so quickly ;)

I hope Lilly is put off by the experience.

[wagsalot]

Yuck. Toads.

We went to Ballina for a holiday in Feb, and didnt even think about toads.

We were letting Riley out of the tent to go the toilet at night, not even thinking about it.

Then OH went out and saw a toad. After that Riley had my OH following him round with a torch when Riley went out for a wee at night.

Do toads only come out at night? We only saw them at night in Ballina.

[B-Q]

you can find them suring the day. but their usually hiding out. they are around more at night

[Erny]

I had an incident with Axle a few days ago - I panicked and just stuck the hose in his mouth which cleaned his mouth AND made him spew so if he ate any it came back up

I know you said you "panicked" but I'd avoid doing that (assuming I have imagined your description correctly). Squirting the hose directly towards the back of the dog's throat could cause water to go into the lungs.

Cane Toads : I know "they're coming" but I'm so glad Melbourne don't have them.

[kamuzz]

Wasn't prepared with the dettol squirter (don't ask me why ) and it got away.

We now have a dettol squirter and torch just inside the front door.

So does dettol kill toads?

[caffiend42]

I've got three in the freezer now waiting for Thursday's bin day ;) All big ones.

Dettol is supposed to work pretty well, but the only way I'm putting 'roid cream on a toad's back is with a 9 iron.

The suggestion to use 'roid cream was made by the EX NT RSPCA CEO :p

[Just Midol]

I had an incident with Axle a few days ago - I panicked and just stuck the hose in his mouth which cleaned his mouth AND made him spew so if he ate any it came back up

I know you said you "panicked" but I'd avoid doing that (assuming I have imagined your description correctly). Squirting the hose directly towards the back of the dog's throat could cause water to go into the lungs.

Cane Toads : I know "they're coming" but I'm so glad Melbourne don't have them.

Yeah - I stopped when he bit my thumb (almost instantly). I had my hand over the stream though so it was squirting straight back.

[B-Q]

harry got a bit weird the other night. mum yelled to come help she thought he mightve got a toad. we put him in the bath and washed his mouth out. don't think it was a toad though. he just gets foamy sometimes. lol

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Ewww. Welcome back to Darwin, LM. It's horrid that these nasty creatures have spread so far so quickly

I hope Lilly is put off by the experience.

Nope, she's never put off by it...in fact, she wants to catch then more than ever once she's got the first one.

Typical greyhound.

We hope that it's an isolated incident for this time of year, but everyone waters their gardens every day (some twice a day) so that just keeps the toads breeding year-round. :D I want to buy a toad trap, but at $100 + I just don't have that to spare ATM.

I need a job.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Wasn't prepared with the dettol squirter (don't ask me why ) and it got away.

We now have a dettol squirter and torch just inside the front door. :D

So does dettol kill toads?

Yep. They might hop away a bit but you find their bodies later. I absolutely REFUSE to handle them in any way, shape or form. And there is no way a cane toad will see the inside of my freezer...yuck!

[wagsalot]

What do you during the day if your out or at work?

Do the dogs stay inside?

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

What do you during the day if your out or at work?

Do the dogs stay inside?

Yep, the dogs have always been inside dogs.

ATM b/c they're adjusting to the change in climate, we have the air con going a bit for them. But as they cope with the increased temperatures, we are reducing the time it's on. So far, so good. Ruby and Lilly have lived in Cairns but Darwin is much hotter in comparison and the humidity is still quite high for this time of year. Ruby is a Darwin dog (we got her from the pound here back in 2001), so she's re-learning everything - but there were no cane toads here back then.