Reptile & Amphibian Forums

http://floridagardener.com/critters/BufoMarinus.htm

"Florida's first Giant Toad population was established in 1955 by an accidental release at Miami International Airport. Specimens imported by a pet dealer escaped and spread through canals to other areas. Pet dealers deliberately released the toad elsewhere in southeastern Florida in the early 1960"

I thought the cane toad was a government release, not due to pet owners?

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>>I thought the cane toad was a government release, not due to pet owners?

Yes, but in Hawaii and Australia (to combat invasive insect pests), not Florida.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Jungle Carpet Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase, Striped Desert, Newport, and Coastal California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

They were intentionally released to control sugar cane pests. See attached:

http://myfwc.com/WILDLIFEHABITATS/Nonnative_GiantToad.htm
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Amy Claiborne

Don't let them take your wasted time. J.T.

This is exerpted from the above website:

"Species Account: The giant toad primarily occurs naturally from the Amazon Basin in South America north to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The Florida population is probably of Colombian origin and is the result of pet trade escapes and deliberate introductions (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999). In 1936, the University of Florida's Agricultural Experiment Station released 200 giant toads from Puerto Rico at Canal Point and Belle Glade in Palm Beach County to control sugar cane pests, but the toads disappeared in less than 1 year (Riemer 1958, Krakauer 1968). Two other attempted toad introductions in the 1940s by sugar companies at Clewiston, Glades County, and Pennsuco, Dade County, also failed (Duellman and Schwartz 1958, Riemer 1958, Krakauer 1970). The present population originated from the accidental release in 1955 of approximately 100 toads by an importer at the Miami International Airport (King and Krakauer 1966). "
-----
Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Jungle Carpet Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase, Striped Desert, Newport, and Coastal California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

That just goes to show you that the only foreign exotic releases that take, are the ones from pet trade animals. All other introductions are benign. LOL
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

John
I know you were joking but almost all the plants and animals that are in trouble in California are because of the California Fish and Game introducing non-native wildlife into our lakes and streams. The two animals they are [bleep]ing about right now are the bull frog that they listed as a game animal for years and refused to let us remove and the red eared slider that while I don't like it hasn't caused a problem. They claim it's hurting the native pond turtle but they don't even eat the same things so the don't compete. Fish & Game here, spells BS with capital letters.
Michael Luhrs

I've heard it said that in Fl. they are the cause of genetic pollution of the species. They ban them from the pet trade. Intrestingly,the turtle breeders were able to get the State to let them sell albino's and other color morphs. Now thats the way it should work. But,something has changed in the last few years.I dont think that would come out like that now. Vic

That publication you're trying to get scanned is from 1976. It's hard for people who weren't around then (most readers of this forum) to understand, but when they wrote about "non-domestic and exotic" pets they did NOT mean retiles (which were not on group's radar back then, and were a tiny market segment usually lumped in with the tropical fish hobby), but things like monkeys, chimps, civets, kinkajous, raccoons, etc. Believe it or not, such animals were widely available at the time from many pet stores.

These animals, of course make HORRIBLE pets for families, or indeed anyone without specialized knowledge of handling and training techniques. I think most would admit that it is a good thing one can no longer waltz down to the local pet store and buy a spider monkey. So it would not surprise me to find some of the mainstreams showing concern about them at that time. But now, 34 years later, such is no longer the case.
-----
Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Jungle Carpet Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase, Striped Desert, Newport, and Coastal California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

NP

I think that that happened in Australia.