Hinchinbrook Island - Cane Toads

[bailz66]

I have just come back from completing this walk with some friends and one thing that suprised me was that there were a large number of Cane Toads on the island especially around Zoe Bay. Must have seen at least 20 of these just on the track between the falls and the campsite which was a bit suprising. Could really do some damage to the island over the next few years which is really sad.

I took a photo of one which I will post up here later but was wondering if anyone else has experienced this, if it has been reported anywhere and if anything is being done about it (I don't think anything can be done)? It doesn't sound like they have been there for very long as people I have spoken to about it were un aware that they were there.

[tastrax]

Been there for a while - mentioned in the 1999 Management Plan. Not aware of any eradication or control projects.

www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/managing/plans-str ... k-1999.pdf

[Art]

There are plenty of nice places where the Cane Toads come out at night,
and it is unfortunate when the area is the home of any frogs.

I have heard of some organised groups (nothing lately) that goes out and
collects them, to destroy later.

[LandSailor]

Just as a sidenote, Hinchinbrook Island is for sale at the moment, if anyone has any spare cash lying around.

[GD4Up]

Just as a sidenote, Hinchinbrook Island is for sale at the moment, if anyone has any spare cash lying around.

Sounds like a bargain at that price, just that the piggy bank can't quite cover it.

[wally55]

First time I walked the island, about 17 years ago, I saw none. A year later I saw a large dead one. Last time, a few years ago, there were fewer rats and many toads at Zoe Bay camp, and elsewhere. Yes, very sad. I think they have reduced Lace Monitor numbers also, and probably many other natives.

[GPSGuided]

Just as a sidenote, Hinchinbrook Island is for sale at the moment, if anyone has any spare cash lying around.

And only for a 50 years lease?

[Don R]

I walked Hinchinbrook first in 1985,at the time there were cane toads at Little Ramsay. The toads have been there for some time.

[ULWalkingPhil]

I grew up on farms, I can remember, you could not open the door to the house at night, if you did at least 20 toads would jump inside, than we had to run around chasing them out of the house, there would literally be at least 30 outside the house, waiting to get in as soon the door opens.

We had a guy up here that loved Cane toads, and was complaining that they where declining in numbers. He would go on local TV here and the papers complaining how the numbers had declined, he went as far as breeding them and released back into the wild.
I don't know what ever come to him, a few weeks after he was on the local TV I never heard of him again. Hopefully his not somewhere releasing the silly things. I remember him coping a lot of flak for breeding and releasing back into the wild.

[Happy Pirate]

Just as a sidenote, Hinchinbrook Island is for sale at the moment, if anyone has any spare cash lying around.

The Island isn't for sale, it's a National Park. It's just the resort.

I have just come back from completing this walk with some friends and one thing that suprised me was that there were a large number of Cane Toads on the island especially around Zoe Bay. Must have seen at least 20 of these just on the track between the falls and the campsite which was a bit suprising. Could really do some damage to the island over the next few years which is really sad.

I took a photo of one which I will post up here later but was wondering if anyone else has experienced this, if it has been reported anywhere and if anything is being done about it (I don't think anything can be done)? It doesn't sound like they have been there for very long as people I have spoken to about it were un aware that they were there.

Perhaps the people you spoke to weren't locals?
Cane Toads have been a part of FNQ for quite a while and the pesky blighters manage to stowaway so well that they are present on many islands in North Aus.
The biggest toad I've ever seen was at Machushla on Hinchinbrook in 1999.
Any damage they could do is already done and to tell the truth the most damage done to the island in recent years was done by Cyclone Yasi which gave the island an absolute flogging.
The good news(?) is that their impact, while great, appears to be diminishing as local wildlife develop strategies to avoid the toxic effects of predation.
There are reports of some predators learning to flip toads over to eat the stomach while avoiding the toxic glands on their backs.

For more information on the ecology and impact of cane toads see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ENUqV5-bw
cheers
Steve