Scientists suggest scaring toads to limit population

Thursday, June 12, 2008 

The cane toad
Image: User:Froggydarb.

Scientists from the Northern Australian region Queensland have said that the population of cane toads could be limited by scaring them. The toads are non-native, imported invasive pests in the parts of Australia they inhabit.

The scientists have reported that scared tadpoles will transform into toads prematurely, leaving them undersized and weak. The intimidation has been found by putting a squashed, dead tadpole into a pool and observing that some of the chemical signals given off by the corpse scare tadpoles already in the pool. The result is the early metamorphosis, and a weaker population of cane toads.

Sources

• "Fear and bacteria: Possible ways of controlling the cane toad" — University of Queensland, June 12, 2008
• "Scare them to death" — Northern Territory News, June 12, 2008