Citizen Cane

Umbra on cane toads 11

Dear Umbra,

I'm currently studying in Australia. I was recently in Queensland, where as you probably know, cane toads are a huge problem. There are over 200 million of the toxic toads, and this invasive species has been killing off native wildlife and just in general causing lots of problems. In fact, they have huge hunts where they gas thousands of the toads.

Recently, when some friends and I saw the toads (hundreds of them come out at night, it's scary) we debated killing them, because it's really just doing the environment a favor. Now, my question is: would it have been right for me and my buddies to have cruelly squashed a few toads to help save Australia's wildlife, even if the toads would die a horrible death and the death of only a few toads would have no impact on their destructive tendencies? I've been wrestling with this for a while. I didn't actually kill any, but when/if I go back, what should I do?

Basically, I'm asking is killing one bad animal right if it's a horrible death and will do little or nothing to stop that species' rampage?

Aaron
Ithaca, N.Y.

Dearest Aaron,

You make me want to croak.

Photo: iStockphoto

No. To emphasize the message from our garden pests column: don't do anything with animals and plants unless you know for sure it is the right thing to do.

What you're asking is in part a moral question. The answer seems embedded in the question, to be honest. You don't seem to want to have cruelly killed the toads -- your use of the word cruel gives you away -- and you have the right instincts. Though cane toads seem without redemption, killing them in cruel and unusual ways degrades both them and you. Clubbing them or squishing them is also not recommended from an environmental standpoint, thank goodness, because I am not The Ethicist. Unless you can positively identify the toad and know what the recommended steps for eradication are, doing nothing is the best choice.

All the various cane toad authorities give the same instructions about individual citizens killing the cane toads, which I will get to in a moment after I catch the rest of us up on Bufo marinus. This giant toad was introduced to Australia in 1935 to eat a sugar-cane pest. Only after it was introduced did the poor naifs who brought it learn two things: it couldn't physically reach the pests -- sounds like they were bilked -- and it had no Aussie predators. Oh, and it reproduced like mad. Now these giant mushy toads are spreading over Australia, eating, poisoning, and displacing all sorts of endemic species, from snakes to mammals to frogs. One particularly revolting part of the cane toad is its poison-filled shoulder pads (yes, yes, insert joke about Joan Collins here), so slamming it with sticks is immoral and dumb, because the last thing you want is poison in your eye.

Australia would like to get rid of the cane toads, so killing them is actually approved of by various powers that be. You just need to be sure it's the right toad, and do it as humanely as possible.

There are some nice native froggies down under (no other toads), and the last thing you want to do is go all cane toad on them. So, just like our garden pests, learn to identify the cane toad vs. nice froggies, and learn the best way to control them. The best way to dispose of them is apparently at the egg stage, by scooping their (revolting) egg strings out of bodies of water and composting them. Don't try to kill any tadpoles, in case you confuse them with innocent frog tadpoles. Brush up on your adult Australian frogs (page includes frog calls!) and the adult cane toad itself. When you are certain you have found a cane toad, or pack of cane toads, you are supposed to gather them up carefully. Put them in the fridge for a few hours to sedate them, and then into the freezer for a day to kill them. Then throw them out somewhere. Ick.

Be cautious when dealing with pests of all sorts, is the moral here. The cane toad is in Australia because someone was not cautious, and native frogs are now under threat. A little caution has its moments.

Bufoly,
Umbra

Get up close and personal with the scourge of Queensland, the cane toad:

 

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Send your green-living questions to Umbra.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

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  1. caniscandida Posted 3:10 am
    21 May 2007

    oh!, that poor little mouse!Thanks, Umbra, for an excellently reasoned response, to a question that is a very difficult one for us animal-rights types.  You struck just the right balance; and going for those strings of eggs makes a great deal of sense.
    Randy Cohen himself could not have done better.  Nay, you have done better than Randy, because he probably would not have considered Aaron's question worth answering.
    But the fate of that little white mouse in the video is a clear example of animal abuse.  Sure, the people making the video want an illustration of the observation that cane toads will eat anything smaller than themselves.  But there was no need intentionally to sacrifice a mouse for that purpose.

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  2. possum107 Posted 3:45 am
    21 May 2007

    think biggerI would love to see the idea of animal-rights expanded to the idea of eco-system rights.  Focusing on individual animals, worthy as that is (and, yes, I am an animal lover), is just far too limited these days.  The problem of invasive species is ENORMOUS.  Umbra, you supplied some excellent cautions here about being 100% sure you know what critter you're dealing with before dispatching it.  I just hope people aren't soooo discouraged by the extra effort involved in educating themselves about how to control exotic invasives (a problem I think comes just behind global warming in its severity BTW) that they give up completely and leave the job to the "experts".  The professional experts are few, far-between, overworked (pretty much 7 days a week for nearly 365 days a year is the norm for the one I am currently dating), extremely under-funded and at the mercy of all kinds of political games and unbelievable public ignorance of the threats posed by these pests.  We need a lot more citizen volunteers who are willing to give up some of their free time to come out and fight invasives at their local level -- find the right group, and they will be more than happy to educate you and point you in the right direction.

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  3. jough Posted 4:28 am
    21 May 2007

    Toad RageFor more specific information on the Cane Toad and its legacy, you might want to watch Cane Toads.
    Poison in the eye sucks.

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  4. amc89 Posted 6:06 am
    21 May 2007

    Preventing invasive species in the first placeIt seems like we spend so many resources on trying to eradicate invasives species when in my opinion we should be spending as many, if not more, resources on prevention. The importation and sale of a number of exotic animals for the pet trade is still legal in the U.S. and many other nations and this is not only cruel to the individual animal that is taken from its habitat, but it also causes lots of damage when the pets escape (often released into the wild by the owners who realize taking care of an exotic pet is quite a lot of work).
    Another example is the wildlife we ship all over for entertainment, such as rattlesnake roundups and frog jumping contests. That's right, frog jumping contests. Yesterday there was an article in the NY times (

    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/us/20frog.html ) about the importation of eastern frogs for a big frog jumping contest in California:  
    "Dr. Stack said the situation was not helped by importing of bigger, badder bullfrogs from the East Coast, which 'will eat anything that moves that fits in its mouth,' including smaller, red-legged frogs. That sort of omnivorousness still frightens wildlife advocates, who view the Calaveras event as an environmental disaster waiting to happen."
    I think these types of events involving non-native wildlife should be made illegal and our politicians should crack down on the exotic pet trade. If you want a pet, go to your local shelter for a nice cat or dog and please leave wildlife in their native habitats!!  (But please keep you cat indoors, to prevent him or her preying on birds and other wildlife)
    Unfortunately, the exotic pet trade has lots of money and lobbies quite vociferously. I think the exotic pet trade is an area where animal groups and environmental groups should work together more often.  

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  5. caniscandida Posted 7:39 am
    21 May 2007

    "far too limited"Thanks, Possum, for that comment.  Best wishes to your 24/7/365+0,25 expert-pal.
    In general, I agree with everything you write.  But the principle counts.  Umbra understands the principle very well.  We do not put animals to death needlessly, and in an inhumane way.  The makers of that video apparently released a mouse in the presence of cane toads, with the camera ready, waiting for one of the toads to devour it.  For all we know, they sacrificed a number of mice that way, but got less impressive video results than the one they actually chose to show.  That is not good.  And that injustice does nothing to further that truly good cause of restoring Queensland's pristine balance of biota.
    Thanks, Amc89, for your comment on the exotic pet trade.  I was not aware that the dealers are so influential, but I believe you.  There are now a few US breeders of exotic reptiles (I have not heard of any who breed parrots and other birds, but that is not impossible).  But I have not got around to studying the matter.  If you have any information, I would be very interested to see it.
    Good for you, for mentioning the Calaveras frog-jumping thing in the NYTimes.  It concentrated more on local economics than on animal-welfare issues, unfortunately.

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  6. possum107 Posted 8:26 am
    21 May 2007

    the mouseO yes - I agree with you about the mouse and the movie!  Sorry, I meant to be clearer -- my concern is with people who focus too strongly on one species at the expense of the total system -- the folks who refuse to kill anything at any time for any reason.  As a specific example from the volunteer work I do to remove invasive species at a nearby natural environment area: one of the site's BIG problems is that the local deer population is enormous and is putting severe pressure on the T&Es at the site.   So the state has been (granted, somewhat belatedly) working to institute a hunting program to reduce the deer herd (which, given our constraints of time and money and people seems to be the best shot we have at accomplishing a reduction quickly -- which we need, because one of our rarest plant species counts has dropped below 1000 or so - and is suffering from deer grazing and trampling), but we have encountered incredible hostility from  neighbors who can't stand the thought that any deer should be sacrificed for this very rare and endangered eco-system that we are working to protect/restore.  It's very short-sighted: they want to essentially trade in 40+ rare species for the sake of one very common and quite overabundant "cute" one.  It's horribly frustrating.  As for preventing the importation of invasives --- the pet trade is a good place to start, but it's only a very small part of the overall problem.  Ship ballast water, wood crating materials, imported foods and plants (legal and otherwise) that contain unwanted seeds, stow-away insects/molds/fungi are probably the bulk of the problem.  The nursery trade should be targeted as well as the animal trade.  But what to do about the globalization of trade?  This is a horrible problem -- the more and faster we travel, the farther and faster these pests invade our environment.  Invasive pests are like a slow-moving nuclear bomb that is quietly wiping out native species everywhere. We have so few tools to combat them, and so few people who even understand how serious this problem is.....it's very scary.  West Nile is killing our birds, the emerald ash borer is killing our ash trees, a fungus from Australia has killed a few people (!) on Vancouver Island, sudden oak death will take out our oak forests, kudzu has overrun the south, mile-a-minute and ailanthus are destroying the areas near me, etc. etc!  The list is long and growing faster every day.

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  7. Corey McKrill's avatar

    Corey McKrill Posted 10:21 am
    21 May 2007

    That GE amphibian kinda looks like a cane toad...Animated, funny, but be warned: there's toad guts.
    Another cane toad movie.

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  8. kgpc Posted 12:40 pm
    21 May 2007

    New serverCurrently we are moving to new dedicated server where we are going to provide wide, interactive platform for energy, and climate issues enthusiasts and professionals. We are going to start as of 01.Junne 2007. You are all wellcome to live your comments, write articles, or simply pass by.

    Editors: http://www.ethanol-news.de

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  9. amc89 Posted 1:49 am
    22 May 2007

    More links to info about exotic pet tradeHumane Society of the United States:

    Should Wild Animals Be Kept as Pets? http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildlife/shoul ...
    Animal Protection Institute: More Beautiful Wild

    http://www.morebeautifulwild.com/
    Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition

    http://www.cwapc.org

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  10. amc89 Posted 1:58 am
    22 May 2007

    Let's stop killing the predatorsYes, I definitely understand the concerns about deer, but again, we're not focusing as much on prevention.  Where I live, the farmers, like everywhere, hate the deer. But then they also hate the coyotes, foxes and other predators and loudly advocate for their "right" to trap and kill them. Coyotes are known to eat fawns, and foxes and bobcats are very important rodent controllers, yet the farming hunting, trapping, and fur industry lobby continues to fight against predator protection.  In the west, hunters are advocating for killing more cougars to "protect" the elk herds, in Maine hunters advocate for more trapping (with the cruel wire neck snare) of coyotes which they claim are eating too many of "their" deer (maybe we can ship some deer from my county to Maine!!!!), and in Alaska hunters aerial gun wolves because they're eating too many of "their" moose.  
    So I think that before communities even discuss hunting deer or other prey animals they consider to be "over-populated", they should make sure that the commercial and recreational trapping and killing of native predators is prohibited.

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  11. Whiskerfish Posted 5:27 pm
    22 May 2007

    Umm, Umbra...While I generally LOVE your pieces, this one came across to me as a little confused. As someone who kills animals every now and again (mostly tortoises that have been half run-over on the highways of South Africa and are dying a lingering death) I find that bashing or squashing animals (say with a spade or a big rock) is a rather effective way of shipping them off to the afterlife very quickly and isn't actually cruel. You've got to do it with enough enthusiasm to make sure you don't have to follow up, if you get my drift. Jumping at the same time as throwing the rock down stops the blood getting on your shoes.
    Although in the case of Cane Toads we do have the small matter of the splashy poison glands to deal with (perhaps a short sharp downward thrust of a spade though the middle of the body would avoid compressing the glands and spraying the poison around), I think that running around after them, catching them and transporting them in bag to a fridge (wriggling around and struggling to breathe - you'll need a plastic bag to avoid their poison polluting your fridge) is a worse idea. It exposes you to them and their poison more, and is far more stressful to them. And then there's the bag to dispose of (litter).
    This sounds to me like a classic mommy-state method thought up by a modern Australian burocrat, more concerned with being 'safe' (i.e. in control) and needed than helpful or practical. Australia is now one of the world's most over-regulated, control-freakish 'safety first' societies, and this is a classic example of that playing out.
    There is no way of living without killing things. Vegetarians displace and kill wild animals to grow their food. Cane toads are walking, crawling, invading eco-disaster in Australia - we shouldn't be too concerned that bashing them on the head is 'cruel'.
    Whiskerfish

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