It has been reported that Australian scientists have found that placing cat food around ponds can help curb Cane toad populations (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/19/australia-cat-food-cane-toad). The toxic toads were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in an attempt to biologically control the Cane beetle that was decimating Sugar cane crops (it is possibly one of the worst examples of a failed biological control programme). The toads, with their poisonous skin secretions, have killed off many endemic Australian animals that have attempted to eat them. The cat food apparently attracts Meat ants which then attack the toadlets as they emerge from ponds (billabongs). It has been calculated that 98% of toadlets are attacked within 2 minutes of emergence and that most of the escapees die from ant bites within a few days. Actual serious eradication of the Cane toad would involve an awful lot of cat food. There may not be obliging Meat ants in all locations. The ants may also attack other amphibian and reptile youngsters emerging from the waters.
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