Regrow Qld 1 February 2023 Issue 4 Vol 4
Mango madness, Good News in rewilding, read The Prudent Lifestyle, and Greg ponders a massive cane toad - from a safe distance!
Editorial
Anna Hitchcock
My friends,
Mango madness season is upon us, a month late, and with no mangos. (Rude!)
This is the season where every movement seems an effort and you have sweated through three changes of clothes by 7pm.
I’ve had more cold baths this week than a public school boy in 1800’s England.
I can hear the grass growing in my sleep and wake up to find that it has gained an inch overnight.
The clouds hang heavy and pregnant with rain that never arrives, as plants wilt and give up the ghost entirely. I feel quite wilted myself, like a 2 week old lettuce.
Air conditioner salespeople rejoice.
We’re promised rain later in the week, and I can only say “Send ‘er down Hughie!” knowing that rain won’t actually cool things down.
Still, let us be grateful that this season lasts only a couple of months and the rest of the year we live in Paradise.
Happy gardening,
Anna
Good News
This week’s Good News comes from futurecrunch.com
Constant birdsong
The Mercury Islands off the coast of the Coromandel in New Zealand have achieved a mammal predator-free status as a result of a decades-long conservation effort. The islands were initially devastated by the arrival of European colonists and Polynesians who brought rats and feral cats. The removal of these pests led to a remarkable recovery of native species such as lizards, invertebrates, and birds. The success of this conservation effort is part of Aotearoa New Zealand's globally renowned conservation efforts, as they are responsible for nearly a quarter of the world's successful island pest eradications. The story is documented in a new book "Ahuahu: A Conservation Journey in Aotearoa New Zealand" by Dr. David Towns. The book is a mix of professional knowledge and personal insights and contains messages of hope, showing how environmental problems can be resolved through community involvement and bicultural collaboration.
Sea of pink
Against a backdrop of skyscrapers, flamingos are thriving on the shores of Mumbai with their population increasing from 10,000 in 2007 to 130,000 today. The area has become a vital feeding ground because untreated sewage has nurtured the algae that are the flamingos’ main food. “Human impact may seem terrible for nature at first glance but can also be a gold mine for some species.” Hakai
Pocket forests
Volunteers are tackling Paris’s increasing heatwaves with an ancient Japanese tree-planting method that creates fast-growing pocket forests, smaller than a tennis court. Miyawaki forests can grow 10 times faster than standard forests and capture more carbon. These mini forests are also popping up in other cities across Europe and Asia. France24
What we’re Reading:
The Prudent Lifestyle makes some excellent points this week about how individual actions do in fact make a big difference. It also takes less action than you think to change things for the better.
Opinion
Greg Bray
Great Horny Toads!
A cane toad bigger than a chihuahua has been caught in Far North Queensland.
Actually, I think it got to this size by eating chihuahua’s.
Folks, I’m going to link a video to this column which I cannot watch without wanting to puke, because I don’t like cane toads.
When I say ‘don’t like’ they are my ‘thing’ that I’m most terrified of.
You know how psychologists are always telling us that true freedom lies in facing our worst fears and phobias? Well, my worst fear is lying down on a lawn and being covered in cane toads.
(My second worst fear is being unable to move or communicate with others and being propped up in front of daytime TV for years until God decides to kill me).
Rats? Not a problem. Spiders? Ha! Snakes? Wouldn’t be thrilled, but no worries. Mice? Meh.
But one cane toad, and I’ll chew my own foot off to get away from it.
Just kidding, I wouldn’t chew my foot off. That would take far too long…
Look, we all have phobias. I’m just grateful mine aren’t regular visitors inside my home. The occasional one will hop in when the garage door opens, but that’s easily removed with a broom or boot.
I don’t kill them.
I may not like toads, but I’ve never taken to one with a golf club, or a cricket bat. And I don’t like people who get a thrill out of being mindlessly cruel to toads in this manner either. Or cruel to any animals for that matter.
Anyway, you can imagine what it was like growing up in tropical, then Central, Queensland where big cane toads are hopping all over the lawn like, well, toads. There’s nothing like stepping on a fat toad with a bare foot in the dark.
Or watching one supersize itself on dog biscuits in between cooling dips in the dogs’ water bowl.
And, my suspicions were confirmed when this footage popped up; the bloody things ARE getting bigger!
Which is why I’m SOOOO grateful for any groups like this heroic, toad busting, mob: ‘Public enemy number one’: on the hunt with Queensland’s volunteer cane toad busters | Invasive species | The Guardian
A small army of marvellous people are gathering regularly around the country to pick up as many toads as possible, then take them home, freeze them, then dispose of them.
Even better, in South East Queensland, they’re giving the toads to a mob who are extracting the poison glands to make bait for tadpoles lures. The lures are then set in traps around the countryside in the hopes of stemming the tide of amphibious invasion.
It might seem like a hopeless quest at the moment given the sheer size of our country and numbers of toads hopping around on it. But I like to this of this as a good bloody start.
Good for them I say!
Will I join them?
Short answer: No
Long answer: No Way
But I applaud their efforts, determination and spirit for getting up and having a go. One toad at a time they are making a difference and that’s worth a jolly ‘Well Done’ and hearty pat on the back.
Because there’s no way I’m going to shake their hands….
Cheers,
Greg
👍🤭
i wonder 🤔 do toads feast on cockroaches❓