Flaviemys purvisi
Very Well-Known Member
by Scott Lenton
18th Dec 2018
Cane toads have been discovered at Ilarwill
RESIDENTS of Ilarwill on Woodford Island have been unpleasantly surprised by the recent arrival of cane toads in their yards and doorsteps and Clarence Valley Conservation in Action Landcare Group volunteers are motivated to get on top of the incursion before the pests get out of hand with a round up planned for Friday night.
Reports of cane toads were confirmed within the last fortnight when juvenile toads were collected and photographed by a resident on Lawrence Rd adjacent to the village. When CVCIA volunteers Terry and Lorraine Watkins received further reports from a resident and decided to do some nocturnal exploration the scale of the invasion was apparent.
The night time check of several residential properties in Cross, Ridge and Park streets resulted in nearly three dozen toads, with many first year adults, suggesting the pests may have been in the vicinity for some time before moving into the village in the last few weeks when the weather warmed up and local wetlands dried up.
With some nice rain in the last few days it will be interesting to see if the toads retreat from the village or decide, like cane toads often do, that it is worth staying to enjoy the comforts of urban living with the mown lawns, mulched gardens, bug-attracting lights, reliable water and left over dog and cat food to snack on.
Any Ilarwill resident that would like their yard checked for toads this Friday night is asked to leave a light on at the front of their house and CVCIA volunteers will knock, check for toads and let you know what they find.
The cane toad population at Brooms Head got some CVCIA attention last Friday night with 14 volunteers gathering up 294 toads from the village (255) and the former prawn hatchery (39), as well as spotting a pair of Whistling Ducks complete with 11 fluffy ducklings.
With the cane toading season continuing through to April there will be plenty of opportunity for people to get active in the trending pastime and in the first three months of this season 50 different volunteers have taken up a bucket and donned the gloves to help humanely rid the lower Clarence Valley of the cane toad pest.
For this Friday's cane toad round-up we will meet at the Maclean Sports Centre's northern car park in Rannoch Avenue at 7.45-8pm before we organise our available volunteer resources to cover sites in both Ilarwill and Maclean and all people need to bring along is a bright torch, a lidded bucket and wear sturdy shoes to join the action.
