An Aussie homeowner has sparked a wave of disgust after revealing his backyard pool overrun with slimy strings. Picture: Facebook/Sam Stark Bellucci
An Aussie homeowner has sparked a wave of disgust after revealing his backyard overrun with a stomach-churning find.
“I wanna vomit,” Sam Stark Bellucci said, triggering horror online after sharing images of his backyard pool overrun by cane toads and the stringy, slmy egg strands they’d spawned.
“I poured half a bucket of chlorine two days ago,” Mr Bellucci said in bis post, “I don’t understand how they can still swim and I had to take out 3 toads just now.”
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He saturated the area with salt in an attempt to kill off the pest. Picture: Facebook/Sam Stark Bellucci
Thousands of tadpoles emerge from those strands if left unchecked. Picture: Brendan Radke
The discovery spread across state lines with Australians unified in their disgust for the wriggling creatures with most reacting with murderous intent.
“Ewww my worst nightmare,” one person said, with others describing their tactics to deal with being overrun in their suburb by them – including going around at night with tongs and pest spray and collecting them by the dozens.
With reports of females being able to lay up to 30,000 eggs in a single clutch, it’s no surprise homeowners suggested drastic measures to turn back the backyard tide – including spraying them with Dettol, HopStop and even the extreme horror of pouring boiling water.
The toads inspire significant disgust in many Aussies.
Some are very used to the problem, with one person joking “the chlorine is good for their complexions”, though for others it was their ultimate trigger: “burn the house down – joking! Good luck!”
The cane toad was apparently introduced to Australia in the 1930s to help control beetles in sugarcane crops – thriving in Queensland’s warm wet conditions, though they have spread across to the Northern Territory and New South Wales as well.
Another user Gillian Nicol said they spray them, then collect them in buckets and dispose. Picture: Facebook/Gillian Nicol
They’ve been so pervasive one social media user warned “those things could survive a nuclear war”.
One person responding to comments around solutions warned “1/2 a bucket, 4.5 litres of chlorine is still under shock level. Need to hit it harder for more effect.”
Mr Bellucci assured all those disgusted by his backyard problem that he had the matter under control now: “everything come out really easy don’t panic, it’s the nature”.
“To avoid this, dump a load of salt as toad hate it. Everything been cleaned and you have to dispose the eggs on the concrete so they dry out or wait for the birds to eat them.”
The images had some thankful they lived on the far side of the country in Western Australia – “thank God we don’t have them here”, while others declared “this is a reason in itself to never move to Queensland”.
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