With the Wild Things: Cane Toads

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|a With the Wild Things: Cane Toads |h [electronic resource].

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|a Ft. Myers, Florida : |b Whitaker Center in the College of Arts and Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University.

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|a 5 podcasts, approximately 1 minute each in length

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|a Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the users responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.

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|a Source: Cane Toads 1 Length of Segment: 00:01:11 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. How about a riddle? What's big, covered with warts, has a mouth that extends nearly from ear to ear, great big bulging eyes, spends most of its time sitting, eats almost anything that moves and can fit into its cavernous mouth, and is an alien? If you're thinking Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars movies, you've got the right idea. But the creature I'm talking about is for real and is common in South Florida: it's called the giant toad, marine toad, or cane toad, and in parts of Central America it's known as the ‘spring chicken’. The giant toad dwarfs native frogs and toads and even eats them. It can reach nine inches in length, though most adults are five to six inches long. With its bulbous body, though, it can seem nearly as large as a frisbee. The giant toad is native to Latin America, but was introduced to Florida at least by 1936 to help control insect pests in sugar cane fields. Now it can be found through much of the Florida peninsula. This week on 'Wild Things', we'll take a close look at the giant toad, its life history, and how it has spread around the world.

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|a Source: Cane Toads 2 Length of Segment: 00:01:12 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't. Some of Florida's worst pests are creatures that seem to offer incredible promise: miracle plants that produce spectacular blooms, beneficial insects, a toad that would control insect pests and save us millions of dollars. Ah yes, that toad. In the 1930s, the giant toad from Latin America was introduced to Hawaii and Australia to control beetles that fed on sugar cane crops. They ate some of the beetles and Florida sugar cane growers wanted their chance with this wonder creature. It was quickly introduced throughout the tropics wherever sugar cane was being grown and gained a name: 'cane toad.’ The cane toad is an opportunist, feeding on anything that moves and some things that don't. In urban areas it readily comes to pet feeding bowls to eat dried cat and dog food. It has few enemies because it produces potent poisons in its skin. During dry weather, the cane toad is inconspicuous, ensconced in wetlands or burrowing into damp soil to wait for the rains. With the rains it quickly begins feeding, breeding and conquering new habitats.

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|a Source: Cane Toads 3 Length of Segment: 00:01:13 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Early efforts to introduce the giant toad to Florida may not have been successful, but efforts continued well into the 1950s. Some escaped at the Miami Airport in 1955. Giant toads hardly seem a lovable pet, but they are often available at pet stores and through biological supply houses for use in biology classes. Thus far, the giant toad seems limited to tropical and subtropical areas, unable to survive cold winters. In tropical and subtropical areas, however, it has become a nuisance and ecological disaster around the world. The presence and abundance of giant toads in an area often go unnoticed because of their nocturnal habits. Like all amphibians, giant toads have a moist skin and if subjected to the drying heat of the day; they can quickly dry out and die. As nightfall approaches, however, the air cools and humidity rises and these toads emerge to feed, sometimes by the dozens from a single small pool. They can climb well, sometimes spending the day in artificial pools surrounded by low rock walls, clambering over the walls like lumbering giants as they emerge or return.

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|a Source: Cane Toads 4 Length of Segment: 00:01:10 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Giant toads can reproduce year-around, though most breeding is in spring and summer following rains. On rainy nights, the males can be heard giving their characteristic puttering trill, sounding much like a tractor engine idling in the distance. A single female may produce 10,000 to 30,000 eggs in a season in jelly-like strings that are often wrapped around submerged objects. The eggs are laid in temporary pools and can even survive in brackish water. Eggs hatch within two to five days depending on water temperature, and young begin consuming algae and other aquatic vegetation. Both the eggs and the shiny black tadpoles that hatch from them are poisonous, helping to assure their survival. Giant toads grow rapidly and within two months can leave the water as hungry, half-inch toxic toads that begin eating tiny insects. They quickly grow and expand their diet to larger creatures. Females usually don't reproduce until their second year, but these toads have few enemies because of their poisonous skin secretions, and an individual can live as long as ten years.

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|a Source: Cane Toads 5 Length of Segment: 00:01:14 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The five to nine inch long giant toad that was introduced to South Florida is easily distinguished by the large warts covering its body and legs and especially by its parotid glands, the elongate, very large swellings behind its eyes. Giant toads vary from gray to brown above and are somewhat cream-colored with black specks below. Both the warts and the parotid glands produce a milky poison that protects the toads from its enemies. All toads produce such chemicals, but the giant toad is so toxic that a dog or cat that consumes one can be killed. Cats usually drop the offensive animal, dogs often do not. Some large toads can even squirt some of their milky poison short distances. The poison causes an animal to drool and often foam at the mouth. The animal twitches, may vomit, often loses control of its hind limbs, and may die. If you suspect your pet has tangled with one of these toads, flush its mouth with running water and contact your veterinarian. The poison from cane toads can irritate your skin if you handle one. If the poison is on your hands and you rub your eyes, you can experience a severe burning sensation, but probably no permanent damage.

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