Young cane toad

Description:

A cute mottled toadlet with red warts over its body. These baby cane toads are found by the centennial lakes not in their hundreds, but in their thousands. Adults sit in the water and submerge rapidly at any disturbance.

Habitat:

Associated with bodies of water. When Carl Linneus first described and named this species it was incorrectly believed that they could survive marine waters.

Notes:

These were introduced into Australia from South America to eat beetles that were a problem in sugar cane plantations in Queensland. It seems the smart toads were too lazy to climb the cane and didn't really assist in controlling the beetles at all. However, they have spread to much of tropical Australia and killed countless higher animals with their very venomous glands on the heads of adults.