Toads croak at hands of hunters
TOAD trawling in the Far North yesterday produced almost 1000 tiny terrors as the region joined the fight against the destructive pest.
Toad Day Out, an inaugural campaign floated to loosen the toads' hold on the environment, received 900 of the "demon" species by community collectors at Trinity Park.
Organisers put the challenge out to the region last week to collect as many live toads as possible.
Co-organiser Lisa Ahrens said the campaign produced 75kg of the species with one titanic toad weighing 352g and 13cm long.
She also said one toad had a fifth leg growing out of its chest, a mutation stunning experts in the field who supported the day.
"We arranged for the toads to be turned into compost for cane farmers but a local taxidermist is going to skin them and the meat is going to be used as compost," she said.
"One of the toads brought in by a four-year-old boy had a fifth leg growing out of its chest and another had no toes."
Trinity Park councillor Sno Bonneau said toads "killed off" a lot of natural flora and fauna and praised the move.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Rural Sciences is holding a focus group on toad management tonight at the Cairns RSL.
For more information about the round table telephone 0422 223 930.
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Gotcha: Amelia Elgar with one of the biggest toads handed in during the Toad Day out.
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