Cane toads don't like cold weather

When we were living in Australia the cane toad was one of the most feared creatures to enter my garden, first of all they scare the heck out of you when you suddenly jump out in front of you, they're poisonous to people and pets, and they kill off the geckos.

Some people we knew used to play cane toad golf or cricket with them to try and control their numbers. It's a cruel sport but the alternative to is try and catch them and place them in a deep freeze and just let them go to sleep and then die peacefully.

Today I notice that a bunch of scientists in Australia and the US have been studying how far cane toads can actually travel in different climates and they've come to the conclusion that a lot of Southern Australia is actually too cold for the cane toad so the invasion will continue, but they'll never really be able to take control like they've done in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

I guess knowing the toad's capabilities is good news because now we can focus our energies on their warmer routes across the continent, instead of trying to stop them reaching place like Melbourne or Adelaide. Maybe now they can finally start to figure out ways to make the toads stop moving north and west. That would be good.

BBC News