Thousands of poisonous cane toads met their fate Sunday as gleeful Australians gathered for a celebratory mass killing of the hated amphibians, with many of the creatures' corpses being turned into fertilizer for the very farmers they've plagued for years. Hundreds of participants in five communities across northern Queensland snacked on sausages, sipped cold drinks and picked up prizes as the portly pests were weighed, measured and killed in the state's inaugural “Toad Day Out” celebration. “To see the look on the faces of the kids as we were handling and weighing the toads and then euthanizing them was just...,” Townsville City Councilman Vern Veitch said, breaking off to let out a contented sigh. “The children really got into the character of the event.” The toads - which can grow up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) in length - were imported from South America to Queensland in 1935 in a failed attempt to control beetles on sugarcane plantations. The toads bred rapidly, and their millions-strong population now threatens many local species across Australia. They spread diseases, such as salmonella, and produce highly toxic venom from glands in their skin that can kill would-be predators. Queensland politician Shane Knuth, a longtime nemesis of the cane toad who came up with the Toad Day Out idea, figured the best way to combat the problem was to gather Australians en masse for a targeted hunt. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has applauded the effort, provided the toads are killed humanely. In Cairns, more than 100 people turned up at a collection point with around 1,000 toads, Toad Day Out organizer Lisa Ahrens said. The biggest was 5 inches (13 centimeters) long and weighed half a pound (290 grams). “So everybody's happy!” Ahrens said with a laugh. “This is an example of how the war against cane toads can be won,” he said.
