Nightkill the Emperor wrote:
Well, Erin is adorable."Cane Toad. Easily one of, if not the most hated creatures in Australia, particularly by Queenslanders. First introduced to try and destroy the cane beetles devastating sugar cane crops. Somehow, those introducing them didn't notice that the beetles lived up high and Cane Toads can't climb. They have poisonous glands as adults, and both their eggs and their tadpoles are also poisonous — some of the native crows have learned to flip adults over and eat their non-toxic guts out, though. One advert a while back features cane toads being used as golf balls by drunken Queenslanders. It was a beer ad, mind.
People who aren't drunk use cricket bats. They're also good for hockey practice.
Other methods include blowing them up with air pumps*, feeding them paracetamol (apparently it swells their insides) and running them over with any vehicle to hand.
Also, squirting them with Dettol (a strong antiseptic), which poisons them pretty quickly. The RSCPA recommends that people humanely kill them by capturing them and placing them in the freezer, but no sane Australian is going to do that.
Don't forget blowing them up with smuggled firecrackers in their mouths.
It's practically a national duty to swerve to run over as many of them as you can rather than dodge.
It's also a fun summer activity for anybody under the age of about 15, 'toad smacking' (or -bashing, or -killing, or simply 'toading') is practically a national children's pastime. Common weapons include: Cricket bats, golf clubs, broom handles with nails in them, cans of deodorant with cigarette lighters, tubs of salt, gumboots, bricks, other toads...
It helps, of course, that these things are very difficult to kill. Seriously, they make cockroaches look delicate.
As one can see from the above, Australians detest them. This is because, unlike the rest of the varied and (frankly) messed up native wildlife they were, as mentioned, introduced from South America and have proven themselves to be a right bunch of troublesome bastards since. Don't touch them with bare skin, but otherwise do whatever you like to them.
Interesting note: 102 Cane Toads were originally introduced into Australia. It's now estimated that there are over 200,000,000 in Australia.
A 9mm bullet to them toad's head, quick and humane, but one has to wonder if 200 million shells would be enough. Still..."
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Holy fuck.
