NT traps a fine lure for toads

Katherine resident Paul Baker has won the Northern Territory Government’s Great Cane Toad Trap Comp­etition. The judges’ decision was unanimous—with Paul’s entry the most successful in trapping the toads with a tally of 112 compared to the next best tally of 73. It was also the only trap not to allow escapees.

As part of his prize, Paul won $5000 to help commercialise his design, a box type trap which uses insects attracted by a light source to lure toads up ramps to the roof, whereupon they fall through trapdoors into the box.

However, you can also purchase cane toad traps from the FrogWatch website, developed by FrogWatch and designed by Action Sheet Metal in Darwin. These traps use lights to lure toads to the traps. According to the site, one field trap caught 453 cane toads in six weeks.