Innovative garden device helping Aussies win war against country's 'worst invader'

Every year, cane toads continue their destructive march across the country, disrupting ecosystems and killing native animals as they go. But one New South Wales man recently highlighted an impressive garden device helping rid huge populations of the pest which is widely considered one of the country's "worst invaders".

Byron Bay local Mark has been proudly restoring the small rainforest and creek that runs through his property. However, after successfully removing an invasive weed from his pond, a new problem emerged.

"Last summer I improved the water quality in the small billabong, by removing the very invasive parrot feather aquatic weed," he told Yahoo News Australia. "The result of that was that I could see the actual cane toad tadpole swarms as they were forming."

After hearing about the Cane Toad Tadpole Trap and Lure device, which uses lure technology designed by researchers at the University of Queensland, he decided to give it a try.

"When the Watergum trap arrived I knew exactly where to put it," he explained. "It now only takes minutes before I see the swarm start to go into the trap! And the rest of the swarm follows in the next few hours."

Mark claims that it's "much more effective" than the nighttime toad busting they used to do in the past.

This year, using the trap for the second time, he caught thousands of tiny critters in just 18 hours.

While it is hard to say definitively, he believes the populations in his vicinity are starting to decline, saying he's only seen one swarm so far this summer.

Now, Mark is encouraging local authorities to get behind the idea, arguing that Byron and the Northern Rivers regions should be the "cane toad line".

"I think if a lot more people did this in a more targeted fashion it would eradicate most of them for sure," he said. "The invasive species issue as a category is in my opinion underestimated and underfunded," he said, adding that cane toads are the "poster child" of the invasive species problem.

"If our coastal community got better organised with this technology and used these traps we could push them back and maybe have a chance to stop the toads spreading south and save our native animals. If we can rally the population to stop the cane toad, it would be something all of us could be very proud of."

Sharing his achievement online, Aussies were quick to praise Mark's efforts, with one agreeing that the traps work "brilliantly".

How does cane toad tadpole trap work?

According to Watergum, the trap and lure works by leveraging their "natural cannibalistic behaviour". The critters are instinctively drawn to eat one another as a means to reduce competition and seek nutrients.

This attraction is driven by a specific pheromone released by the eggs which is the active ingredient in the lure. When the trap is placed, the lure emits the pheromone. Mark explained that once the tadpoles are trapped, he "dumps them on the grass" where they die.

When do cane toads breed?

Cane toads were initially introduced to Australia in the 1930s as a solution to the grey-backed beetle problem impacting the sugar cane industry in north Queensland. Unfortunately, they thrived on Australian shores and are now estimated to be over 200 million strong.

Commonly thought of as a problem in Queensland, the pests have now spread across Queensland into the Northern Territory, Western Australia and the northeast coast of New South Wales.

While cane toads can breed throughout the entire year, they are generally more active at night during the warmer months of the year. They are prolific breeders with female cane toads producing up to 35,000 eggs, sometimes twice a year.

They can severely disrupt ecological communities by killing native predators such as freshwater turtles, eels, goannas, snakes and mammals like quolls and dunnarts by poisoning them.

How to spot cane toad tadpoles

Cane toad tadpoles can be easily confused with native frog species, so it's important to ensure that they are correctly identified.

While most native frog tadpoles are brown or grey, cane toads are black. They feature a short thin tail with eyes positioned towards the top of the head and have visible nostrils.

New TV show criticised for suggesting Aussies eat cane toads

The ABC came under fire late last year after airing a bizarre moment in an upcoming TV series suggesting that a way to manage the notoriously toxic cane toad is for them to be consumed.

The series, Eat The Invaders, is hosted by former ABC News Breakfast host Tony Armstrong and purportedly explores a "tasty solution" to the country's cane toad crisis as well as other invasive species.

Invasive Species Council's Principal Policy Analyst Dr Carol Booth told the Sydney Morning Herald that "promoting invasive species as a resource, whether for profit or pleasure, often entrenches problems.

"Governments have already spent far too much of our taxes on futile programs such as bounties for foxes and pigs, and community whacking of cane toads. Examples of successful 'eat the problem' programs are rare," she said.

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