exploding toads!

Originally posted by gyro ↑

cane toad trap winner announced Right Ok this starting to get silly! ... Talk about Ganging up.

Cane toad trap winner announced
By Karen Michelmore
April 29, 2005
From: AAP
THEY came from far and wide with boxes, pits, cages, enclosures of all shapes and sizes.

The national Great Cane Toad Trap competition even attracted an entry from Germany.
But the winner, unveiled in the Northern Territory today, was a diesel mechanic from Katherine who has battled the warty creature for years.

The Territory Government launched its national quest for a trap in December, in a bid to control the pest that is marching relentlessly towards Darwin.

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A front line of thousands of cane toads is just 40km from Darwin, having ravaged World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.

Paul Baker's trap design – which uses a light to lure insects and therefore toads onto a trapdoor, which falls into a box – was one of six finalists, and 114 entries from across Australia.

He will take home $16,000 for his efforts, including $5000 from the Pest Animal Control Co-operative Research Centre in Canberra to commercialise the design.

"We're basically used to cane toads but they are a bit of a problem around your backyard," Mr Baker, who has also invented a mango-picking aid, said.

NT Parks and Wildlife Minister Chris Burns said the trap caught 112 cane toads – a jump from the next best of 73.

"The judge's decision was unanimous," he said.

NT Parks and Wildlife officer Keith Saalfeld said more than 300 toads had been caught during the testing of the competition traps.

All were disposed of humanely – by lethal injection, he said.

The winning entry caught 30 per cent more toads than its competitors, and didn't snare any native wildlife," Mr Saalfield said.

"It had a number of features about it that helped," he said.

"The trap tended to throw a lot more light and concentrate the light over the actual trapdoor, so the cloud of insects was positioned over that.

"The toads were coming in to feed on those insects, and falling through the trapdoor."

There had been some unusual entries, including one that held female toads to attract the male, which was then wiped with poison as he approached, Mr Saalfield said.

Other traps rejected included a number of pit-designs, which were ruled out because toads could get crushed by other toads, or could drown if the pit filled with water, he said.