Jayden and Corey Allen with the eastern banjo frog they discovered in their Narre Warren back yard. The Allen family mistook the frog for a cane toad.
By Callan Date
FEARS of a cane toad invasion in Narre Warren South have been dismissed as a case of mistaken identity.
But it didn’t stop two young children making claims to be the next David Attenborough and one embarrassed parent confessing his dislike for all things slimy.
Leigh Allen was moving a pond in his backyard last weekend when the warty creature jumped out from the moist dirt and sent the grown man jumping himself.
Mr Allen and his sons, Jayden, seven, and Corey, five, were convinced a cane toad had made its way to Narre Warren from the warmer climate of Queensland.
Further checks on the internet seemed to confirm their suspicions with similarities between the live creature and images on the web.
However, a frog expert was called in and was quick to discover the true identity – an eastern banjo frog native to these parts.
Frog biologist Phil Marantelli said it was a common mistake to confuse the banjo frog with a cane toad.
“A lot of people think that because the frog is warty that it is a cane toad,” Mr Marantelli said. “It would be extremely rare to find a cane toad down here. Ninety-nine or more per cent of the time people have banjo frogs.”
The Amphibian Research Centre employee said cane toads were increasing their march outside the Queensland border and had reached parts of northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory.
“With current climatic conditions it would be very hard for a cane toad in Victoria.”
Mr Marantelli said the Narre Warren frog was re-released where it was originally found.
