Toads to Fight Toads

Another strategy for fighting cane toads in Australia: release small sterile male cane toads in areas without infestation to "teach" local predators that they're not suitable prey. (News source.)

Invasive Lizards

Southeast Asian skinks are spreading through Taiwan, outcompeting the native lizards. (News source.)

Hawaii Snake Hunt

A report of a possible brown tree snake (described as a 2-foot green-brown snake) at the Marine Corps Base at Kaneohe brought out searching parties. (News source.)

Cane Toads vs Dogs

Five dogs have died in a week in the Northern Territories from cane toad poisoning. (News source.)

Rapid Changes in Podarcis

The Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, was introduced to a small island in the Adriatic in 1971, and show a variety of significant changes in the current population. (News source.)

Cane Toads

A parasitic worm may be the latest weapon in Australia's fight against the invasive cane toads. (News source.)

Sydney's Australian Museum is drawing the ire of Northern Territory residents because it put up husbandry instructions for cane toads. (News source.)

Toad-Culling Day

Plans are afoot to create a Queensland (Australian) toad-whacking day against the invasive cane toads. The RSPCA will only support it if toads are killed by freezing. (News source.)

Toads vs Quoll

The WWF is warning that a quoll population is in danger from the expanding cane toad invasion. (News source.)

Toads Kill Crocodiles

Ten freshwater crocodiles were found dead after eating cane toads, "on Auvergne Station near the Northern Territory and Western Australia border." (News source.)

Cane Toads

Flooding in Queensland is sweeping cane toads faster than natural dispersal rates would normally distribute them. (News source.)

Frog Stories

A new shrub frog, called Philautus ochlandrae, has been described in the Western Ghats, Kerala, India. (News source.)

A dog in Hawaii may have died as the result of a poison-arrow frog encounter. Experts are uncertain, as the Hawaiian invasive shouldn't be as toxic as in its native habitat, but the dog might have been allergic. (News source.)

Invaders

First, the Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) has found its way to northeastern Florida (Clay County). (News source.)

Second, a profile on the European wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) in Victoria, British Columbia. (News source.)

Bullfrogs in Oregon

Here's another article on the non-native bullfrog's impact on other species in Oregon. (News source.)

And on a similar topic, because bullfrogs are eating so many baby western painted turtles in Oregon, there are plans to raise the turtles in captivity for release after they are too big to be eaten. (News source.)

Large 'Glades Python

While feral pythons are not uncommon in Vero Beach, FL, a significantly sized (16-footer) was recently killed by a large roadside bush mower. (News source.)

Toad Fight Continues

Efforts to stem the tide of cane toads in Darwin, Australia, appear to be working. (News source.)

Maui Coqui Project

The Maui Invasive Species Committee has a coqui eradication project in the works. (News source.)

Day Gecko Invasion

The Madagascan day geckos accidentally (or intentionally) released on Mauritius are a threat to that island's native day geckos. Other species are also causing trouble. (News source.)

European Frogs Threatened

Here is a study on European frog conservation, noting that some native species in western Europe are being threatened by an eastern European species, Rana ridibunda, that has invaded their territory.

Iguanas Attacked

Someone is shooting their crossbow at feral iguanas in Cape Coral, Florida. (News source.)

Slider Peril

Red-eared sliders' invasive potential is hitting the Australian news again.

Brown Tree Snakes

Micronesian leaders have formally asked US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to put together an official policy with procedures to keep the brown tree snake out of their islands. The snakes were inadvertently introduced into Guam after WW2, after the military moved equipment there from the Solomon Islands. (News source.)

Red-Eared Sliders in New Zealand

Here is a brief discussion of the invasive potential of red-eared sliders in New Zealand, following an escaped or released turtle found in the Kawau Stream.

Coqui Eradication Misfire

Plans to have Hawaiian school children collect bounties for collecting the invasive coqui treefrogs misfired when a couple of schools questioned their participation. (News source.)

Aussie Govt. vs Toads

There are claims by FrogWatch (shouldn't that be ToadWatch?) that the government in Australia is not doing enough to help stop the spread of invasive cane toads. (News source)

Fighting Cane Toads

Australian researchers are looking at another weapon against the invasive cane toads: spinal disease. (News source.)

More on Cane Toads

Researchers want toad-proof fencing set up between the Northern Territories and Western Australia to protect the latter. (News source.)

Drought around Brisbane appears to be reducing cane toads in that location. (News source.)

Cane Toads Expanding

The invasive cane toad may be expanding its range into Western Australia in spite of the best efforts of biologists to stop it. (News source.)

Toad Genome

Australian scientists are working on a cane toad genome program, to identify the invasive species' weaknesses. (News source.)

Everglades Pythons Increasing

The introduced population of Burmese pythons is expanding its range in the Everglades. The population is believed to number in the thousands. (News source.)

Cane Toads

When trapping cane toads, use soft mating calls rather than loud ones, research suggests. (News source.)

Uh, Oh: Geckos Can Bite!

Those mean, nasty giant day geckos, with jaws like "pliers," are being outed by the Hawaiian media. It's one thing to point to the ecological problems of invasive species, but demonizing a day gecko? Please.

Dwarf Crocs in Trouble

A population of dwarf freshwater crocodiles in north Australia may be in danger of an invasion by the cane toads. (News source.)

Asprin for an Invasive Headache

The USDA is dropping dead mice stuffed with asprin onto the forest canopy of Guam in an effort to eradicate the brown tree snake. Apparently, acetaminophen, the active ingredient in asprin, is a dangerous intoxicant for the reptiles. (News source.)

Bullfrogs in Utah

Bullfrogs (illegal in Utah) have been found on a golf course and other locations in the Uinta Basin. (News source.)

Ball Python in California?

An email circulating around the Edwards Air Force Base showed a picture of a ball python underneath a car, warning people to check under their cars for snakes. The base naturalist did a little spiel about the perils of introduced exotics, etc. I'm betting, however, that the email is just another in a long line of "strange animal photos" circulating with deliberately falsified background details just to fool people. (News source.)

Monitor Hunt

Englewood, Florida, police are posting fliers asking for information on a large monitor lizard seen in the area. They are trying to pinpoint its territory so that trappers can remove it. (News source.)

Crows Eat Cane Toads

Folks in Darwin, Australia, have observed that crows have figured out how to safely eat the invasive noxious cane toad. (News source.)

Sanibel Fights Back

Sanibel is trying to eradicate the non-native iguana and monitor lizards roaming the island. Lizard Control Units are trapping as many as they can. (News source.)

Coqui Lawsuit

A Hawaiian business is suing a real estate company over a property that is infested with coquis, despite the original contract having full disclosure that the noisy little frogs were on the property. (News source.)

Canary Island Kingsnakes

Previously noted, there are apparently introduced snakes breeding on Gran Canaria. A new news account states that an English snake handler is trying to collect them from the wild, naming the species: California kingsnakes, with morphs included. (News source.)

Aliens in the UK

The Herpetological Conservation Trust is trying to track any non-native herp species discovered in the south of England. (News source.)

Australia and Cane Toad Menace

One researcher of the cane toad invasion in Australia suggests that the species is beginning to integrate within Australian ecosystems with less harm to natives than originally reported by conservationists. (News source.)

Invading Iguanas

Colonies of feral iguanas are expanding in southern Florida. Their agility and intelligence make them difficult to eradicate. (News source.)

Hawaii Snake Hunt

Hawaiian officials are on the lookout for a snake reported along the Hanalei River, Kauai. They are uncertain if it was a brown tree snake or another species. (News source.)

Parasite for Fighting Cane Toads

Another potential weapon against invasive cane toads in Australia: parasitic lungworms. (News source.)

Cane Toad Spray

An Australian company is developing a spray that will anesthetize and kill marine toads humanely. (News source.)

Florida Iguana Problems

Feral iguanas in West Hialeah are causing problems for South Florida Water Management District officials. They are digging burrows into the sides of canal banks, which might make them unstable when water rises. (News source.)

Cuban Tree Frogs in Florida

Cuban tree frogs are becoming more of a threat to Florida's native amphibians. An extension paper has been written on it by a Univ. of Florida assistant professor. (News source.)

Cane Toads in Samoa

A cane toad has been discovered on Samoa, and other sightings have been documented, causing officials to start an awareness campaign to help prevent its full introduction. The pest species is already found on American Samoa and Fiji. (News source.)

Cane Toad Virus

Scientists have been working for five years on a virus that will keep cane toads from reproducing. (This should effectively halt the spread of this introduced species in Australia, similar to the success with introduced rabbits.) They are now testing the virus to make certain it only affects the toads and not native species of amphibians. (News source.)

Cane Toad Cannibalism

Australian scientists are suggesting that conservation efforts attempting to reduce the population of the introduced cane toad focus on the species' prediliction for cannibalism. Adult toads will wave a toe on one of their hind limbs to lure in small toads, then pounce. (News source.)