Do you live in South Florida and have been seeing an increase of toads around your house? You may have more than warts to worry about then.
The Cane Toad has been making its way up from Cuba into Florida via the Cane Sugar industry. The hope was that cane toads would help remove cane beetles, but all they’ve done is become another Florida pest.
What a pest they are! Cane toads don’t have natural predators in Florida. That means they aren’t going away anytime soon.
They’re poisonous too. Cane toad poison can kill your pets or small children, or cause an adult to take a trip to the ER.
If you find these hopping guys on your property, don’t try to DIY. A Cane Toad removal service is the best way to get them off your property and away from loved ones.
Dangers of the Cane Toad
What makes the Cane Toad so dangerous? Its venom is so toxic it warrants needing professional cane toad removal.
The toads are not harmful because of their size, though they’re bigger than your average toad. What makes them so threatening is the toxin that they carry on glands behind their shoulders.
This toxin, called bufotoxin, can kill small animals and they use it for defense and to kill their prey. The amount of toxin from one frog is enough to kill an alligator.
Cane toad removal is especially important if you have loved family pets or small children who like to play outside.
In Florida and Australia, where the toads are invasive species, pets often suffer. If caught quick enough, the cane toad toxin doesn’t have to be lethal to your dog or cat, though it can be.
The toxic most often enters through the mouth, but it can also get into your pet’s eyes. This is why you’ll want to wash your pets face before you take them straight to the vet.
How will you know its cane toad poisoning? The symptoms can look like this:
- Crying or whining
- Pawing at face
- Large amounts of drool
- Unsteady Movements
- Collapses
If not treated, cane toad poisoning can and will kill your furry best friend.
There is some good news though, cane toad poison can’t enter through the human skin. Some people think that means it’s safe to remove toads themselves. That isn’t the case.
The toad poison is lethal to humans if ingested. It’s not that people are frying these toads up to eat though. People will lick or collect the poison off of cane toads for its hallucinogenic effects.
The amount of cane toad poison in this pastime is dangerous but not generally lethal. Still, not a good idea.
For those looking to do some cane toad removal themselves, the cane toad glands can spray poison up and out. Most people come in contact with the toxin from getting it sprayed into their eyes (directly or indirectly).
The poison can also enter your body via micro or open cuts on your skin. Either way, you need to get to the hospital. The toxin won’t kill you if you only get a little of it, but you’re going to be in a lot of pain.
A certain amount of cane toad toxin to the eye can cause blindness for life along with general pain.
Due to their size, the effects of cane toad poison on children is more extreme. Children are more likely to die from cane toad poison contact.
What should you do if you get poisoned by this invasive species? Go straight to the emergency room!
Invasive Species
You might be wondering why cane toads are becoming a problem now as opposed to before. That’s because the toads aren’t native to Florida.
Years back, cane were brought to Florida in hopes of killing off cane beetles. The cane beetles were pests affecting the crop of sugar cane on plantations in the US.
The toads were not an effective form of pest control for the beetles and now they’re pests themselves.
Since the toads are not native to Florida, their usual predators aren’t present. That means there’s no ecological population control for these poisonous amphibians.
They are free to populate and take over ecosystems as they please. Scientists are still working on how to solve this problem.
Cane Toad Removal
In the Environment
How do we get rid of cane toads? That’s a great question. Since they are invasive species, we can’t trust the environment to do it for us.
Some people think the answer to let the toads kill each other. Tadpoles of cane toads are competitive and fight for food resources. The tadpoles will eat other toad eggs to get rid of the threat.
The tadpoles can smell the trace of bufotoxin on the eggs and follow their noses to get rid of competition. This is what led a discovery for efficient cane toad removal from the ecosystems.
Scientists in Australia used this fact to make tadpole traps full of cane toad poison.
In the amounts scientists used, the cane toad poison is deadly to cane toad tadpoles.
In your Backyard
If you’ve found cane toads in your back yard, don’t start looking into tadpole traps. The adult toads are the biggest threat to the health of your household.
Since the poison doesn’t easily come through the skin, many people try to catch the toads. It might be cheaper, but it’s not a risk you want to take.
Another reason to call the experts is that there are regulations about killing or catching animals in some areas.
These toads are far from harmless and take practice and the proper equipment to get rid of.
For efficient, safe, and lasting cane toad removal you need to call the experts. Our trained pest removers know how to catch and get rid of cane toads, so you can get back to enjoying being outdoors.
If you think you have a cane toad problem but aren’t sure, keep a safe distance from the toads and call your local pest removers. These toads can be deadly and it’s much better to be safe than sorry.